In Ashes
by AlphaShenron
Summary: What if the events in Broly's Second Coming were different, how would Gohan and the fiasco with Buu change? And how will Gohan survive under the consquences of his actions?
1. Saviors Folly

Summary: What if the events of Broly's Second Coming were different? How would this affect Gohan and the fiasco with Buu.

I do not in anyway own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Please support the official release.

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Gohan heaved a sigh of relief as the lava closed over Brolys form, making the end of a battle that had started in Brolys favor from the beginning. The lack of training in the past seven and a half years had really put its toll on Gohan.

But what was even more astonishing was how well Goten and Trunks held their own against the might of the Legendary Super Saiyan, even if he didn't transform into that monstrous form. Even now the signs of their fight were fading as Goten started to regain consciousness. Gohan flew out of the lava pit and made his way over to the two children, when he noticed Videl had gotten to her feet and was slowly limping towards the group.

Gohan beamed with pride as this amazing young woman, who he had the pleasure of calling his friend, had actually gone toe to toe with Broly and had come out relatively unscathed. Broly must've been holding back for some reason, Gohan pondered this as he landed next to Goten and Trunks.

Goten stumbled to his feet and helped Trunks off the ground, being unused to fighting anything at full-power the experience left them fatigued and sore. Take into account that the fight was against an insane super saiyan who tried to kill them from the beginning, and you get two very bruised and lucky to be alive hybrids. Now since they had been fighting all morning and afternoon, and having skipped breakfast, their body had metabolised a huge amount of energy from their fat stores which had left their faces a bit sunken in and gaunt. Gohan noticed that they were not used to this level of fighting and smiled as this was a reminder that both of them had experienced a remarkably safer childhood than him as his body had adapted to the constant stress. Saiyan bodies were remarkable in this aspect of consuming and storing high quantities of energy in their bodies in a short period of time.

Videl had finally climbed over the last rock seperating her and the group and collapsed onto the ground next to the bag full of the orbs that had started this whole fiasco. While the bag was in shambles the balls themselves were perfectly unscathed, they didnt even the layer of dust on them that the bag was completely covered in, including the bottom of the bag. Videl shuddered as she recalled the way Broly had looked at her earlier when he fought her, his lecherous grin invading her mind even though she witnessed his body being barbequed in a firey inferno. She was glad the boys had intervened when they did, if they hadn't when they did, Broly probably would've had his way with the young crime fighter, willingly or not.

As Gohan walked over towards the group an overwhelming power invaded his senses. Turning around he saw an eerie green light emanating from the fissure where he had buried Broly.

"Figures that wouldn't have killed him," Gohan said as he started to gather his energy. I don't know if I have enough energy to finish him off. His ki is as strong as ever! Gohan had hoped that the lava would have at least weakened Broly, but that action appeared to be in vain as Broly's ki erupted around him with a force to topple most mountains. Even though Broly was a couple miles in the air, the ground directly underneath him caved inward in a spectacular fashion. If Gohan hadn't phased behind Videl she would have been blown hundreds of meters away, despite her best efforts to dig into the surronding landscape.

This is bad, real bad. Gohan thought to himself. If I can stall him for enough time Goten and Trunks can escape and get Vegeta and Piccolo.

"Goten! Trunks! Get Videl out of here and get Piccolo and Vegeta!" screamed Gohan over the roaring winds produced by Brolys power. But Broly had other plans for the youngest child of Kakarot. Once again seeing the likeness of his psychological tormentor, Broly once again lost control, and charged towards the group. Gohan brought his ki to the surface and it exploded outward as he once again transformed into super saiyan, the fierce heat of his aura burned Videls skin even though she was several meters away from its edge. Using his ki to propel himself, Gohan launched himself towards Broly, the backlash from his takeoff sending rock and debris flying in all directions for hundreds of meters. Charging energy into his right hand, Gohan sent a salvo of blasts all directed at Broly, each with the power to destroy Frieza several times over.

If Gohan had been hoping to stall the berserk saiyan, it failed. Broly flew straight into the heart of them and took each hit unflinchingly, almost seemingly not feeling any of the blasts as they struck various parts of his anatomy. With a feral snarl, Broly smashed Gohan out of the way sending him flying hundreds of meters away towards the far away mountain range. Though within seconds of being swatted, Gohan re-oriented himself and smashed a brutal kick right into the side of Brolys head, desperation and fear lending him strength as his power fed off of his emotions.

Both were surprised that the kick phased Broly, Gohan was surprised because he actually moved Broly. And Broly was surprised because he felt pain for the second time in his life. Broly was sent straight into the ground, smashing into and through rocky landscape. All this happened in the span of less than a second, Goten and Trunks were frozen in fear and awe as Gohan battled the monster who so easily and bested them both while Videl was cheering Gohan on thinking he had won even though she hadn't seen him or Broly move only the aftermath.

"Yeah! Gohan you sure showed him who's boss!" Gohan meerly turned towards the group. Videl was taken back due to the glare on his face. "I told you three to get out of here!" He shouted, "He's not dead yet!" As if to prove Gohans claim, a collumn of green energy erupted from over the horizon where Gohan had sent the Super Saiyan. What happened next ended seven years of peace and prosperity. As Broly rose in the collumn of energy, green ki coalesced into his right hand, seeming to suck the light out of the surronding area and giving it a green tint. Gohan quickly sensed that the amount of energy Broly had collected was nearly enough to rival what Cell had used seven years earlier in his bid to destroy Gohan and the Earth.

Flaring his aura, Gohan dove towards the ground landing next to Goten and Trunks. Trunks had broken down due to the sheer power that Broly was emitting and had tears dripping down his face as he sagged to his knee's. Much like his father, Vegeta, had when he learned that Broly was actually the newest carnation of the Legendary Super Saiyan. Looking over at the boys, Gohan quickly surmised that Trunks would be no help in holding off the gargantuan attack that Broly had prepared. 'Trunks will be no help here it seems', Gohan thought. 'Looks like Goten is the only one in any shape to help'. "Goten look at me." Gohan said firmly looking down at his brother. "I need you to power up as high as you can, then blast Broly with everything you got, do you understand me?" Goten nodded, then screamed as he powered up to his maximum, then blew through the threshold into super saiyan, his aura raging around him.

Bringing his hands to his side, Goten charged up the attack that his father was so famous for utilizing, the Kamehameha. As the blue energy formed in his hands, his brother was at his side, staring off towards Broly, thinking. I promised dad I would protect the Earth and what did I do? I squandered all this time thinking that no threat could be out there strong enough to even faze us! And what happens the very first time something shows up? It kicks my ass completly! I've failed you father, but no more. "No more!" This last bit was shouted out by Gohan after his internal monologue as his power soared, his aura pulsing outwards lighting up the skies darkened by the accumulated energies. "I've had enough!" Gohan shouted out directly towards Broly as he brought the fingers of his right hand to his forehead, the pointer and middle fingers extended. Broly simply looked down at Gohan from his vantage point high in the sky and for the first time since he had awoken from his suspended animation spoke lucidly, "Not until you lie dead at my feet," and launched his attack down towards the two brothers.

Gohan knew that they would not be able to push Broly's attack back with sheer force alone, Broly was simply too powerful for that. Broly could also utilize the potential of the Legendary Super Saiyan form to create an energy backfeed supplying himself with almost infinite power to fuel his attacks, as long as he had an outlet Broly could just keep powering up, if he didn't release it though, the resulting power could overwhelm him and destroy the planet. Which is why Gohan opted to use the attack of his mentor, the Makankosappo. The nature of this attack is that it will attempt to drill through any substance it encounters potentially making use of little energy to complete a huge task. Piccolo had first used it to kill an opponent roughly four times stronger than him, and luckily for Gohan, Broly was only around two and a half times stronger than him in his ascended super saiyan form. Gohan hoped that the Makankosappo would "pop" Broly's attack and surprise him enough to achieve a direct hit, which would hopefully kill the insane saiyan.

Gohan and Goten released their attacks simultaneously, both crying out as the ki erupted from their hands. Gohan's Makankosappo flying ahead of Gotens Kamehameha, it reached Broly's orb ,which greatly expanded in size as soon as it connected, and started drilling through it. Bits of ki flew off like shavings and detonated on the ground. Gohan's attack continued to drill through Broly's blast at constant speed with Goten's Kamehameha right behind it, both being continually fueled with more and more power as they flew towards the titan they faced.

Finally Broly's attack ruptured and the Makankosappo plowed past it into the air, and continued into space. But before either of the two brothers noticed that Broly was missing, there was a scream from behind, a womans scream. Twisting around, Gohan was to late to stop what happened next. Broly swung his arm in a chopping motion hitting Gohan directly in the chest. Gohan, not having enough time to prepare a defense, was sent skidding across the landscape, ploughing through the jagged rocks like freshly tilled dirt for miles. Turning towards Goten, Broly smiled, soon he would crush the life out of his tormentor, the incessant crying would finally stop haunting his dreams, and he could live in peace. Goten stood there shaking, his brother, who he looked up to and thought was invincible, had just been tossed aside like he was nothing.

Videl just stared at the path that Gohan had left, she hadn't even seen Broly move and the next thing she knew Gohan had been sent flying. It was just unreal how strong these fighters were, she thought that Gohan was strong before, but to see him in action like this. It completely reconfigured what she thought was humanly possible. And then he just got thrown what appeared to be several hundred miles away with enough force to go straight through rock and the man who did it appeared to be not even winded in the slightest! And the way he was staring at Goten, she had seen that look before countless times. In her career as a crime fighter Videl had come across many crooks who enjoyed causing pain and taking life, and this bastard radiated that same feeling with an intensity she had never seen before. But Videl couldn't sit by and let this creep harm the child who she had come to see as a little brother while she was still standing, so readying herself she charged.

With a warcry Videl bounded forward towards the giant man, her right fist cocked back ready to strike. But before she could even come close to her target, she was caught in a hold. The very person she had targetted now had her trapped in his arms. His face contorted into an insane smile as he looked down upon her, Broly leaned his head down towards Videls and put his lips next to her ear and what he said made her truly afraid for the first time in her life.

"Your the next course."

Seeing the look of terror on her face Broly broke out into insane laughter. Leering down at her, what he did next would give Videl nightmares for months to come. Grasping the dress she was wearing around her shoulders, he ripped the material off, exposing her naked breasts to the air. Grasping her left breast harshly, he gave it a squeeze, then bringing his face to hers, he then dragged his tongue over her cheek. Then he simply dropped her and turned back to Goten, who by this time had steeled himself and had powered up to the highest he could at the moment, his ki had returned at a phenominal rate once he saw the look of terror on Videl's face. Gathering his power, Goten launched a blistering array of cerulean blasts at Broly, each hitting him in the face with stunning accuracy. Broly just walked through them slowly, lumbering towards Goten like a lion toying with its prey.

Seeing how his attacks were having no affect on Broly, Goten decided to change tactics. Having seen it in action only once, Goten hoped he could replicate it, the Kienzan. Lifting his right arm straight up into the air, Goten layed his palm flat, perpendicular to his arm and the ground below. Goten then concentrated his ki into the area above his hand and tried to make it as flat as can be. As the energy formed it started out as a disk and then something unexpected happened. As Goten rotated the flat disk the energy in the middle gravitated out towards the sides forming a large thick donut shape. Seeing how this could play to his advantage, Goten decided to try and trap Broly in the donut of energy, hopefully it would hold him long enough for Gohan to return and defeat Broly. Throwing the newly created attack, which at this point did not have a name, and frankly he could care less, Goten maneuvered it over Broly's head, who simply watched, confident in his strength, Goten then closed it around Broly's shoulders. Goten then preceded to apply more and more pressure onto the stationary Legend, who simply watched uninterested.

His patience running out, Broly flexed his upper arms causing the improvised container to shatter. Then, faster than Goten could see, Broly phased behind him and grabbed him around the scruff of his neck, then lifted him up into the air. Goten started to try and kick at Broly, but due to the size difference could simply not reach him, time almost seemed to slow down as Broly brought his free hand up and formed a knife hand with it. Laughing maniacally, Broly thrusted his hand into Goten's stomach and out of his back, blood spraying everywhere. Goten vomited blood onto Broly's face, who merely licked it, and then lost the Super Saiyan transformation, the ki needed to sustain it disappearing fast.

All was silent save for the howling wind, the dripping of Goten's life falling onto the rocky ground, and the maniacal laughter of Broly.

"Goten!" Came the cry suddenly, and before Broly could even turn his head to look, Gohan had sent him flying with a kick to the temple. Craddling Goten into his lap, Gohan sobbed into his chest, trying to stem the flow of blood coming from the hole in his torso.

Goten opened his eyes and looked at Gohan. He felt no pain, his body felt light as a feather actually. But he hated to see Gohan cry, he who seemed so invincible and powerful should not be reduced to this. Lifting his arm, he brought his hand to Gohan's cheek.

Innocently Goten asked, "Does dying hurt Gohan?"

Gohan sighed, he realized that Goten needed this, and that he knew what was going to happen, and considering the fact that Broly had destroyed all of his internal organs, he knew he didn't have much time.

Looking up into the sky he replied, "Not at all Goten, its like falling asleep, only when you wake up, you're in Otherworld. There is this big line of puffy white spirits that go into this temple where you meet King Yemma. He decides where you go based on what you did, but he always liked Dad so he is sure to like you as well."

Gohan paused for a bit, he could hardly keep a hold of his ki as it threatened to spill out into his surrondings. Only the fact that Goten needed him kept his power from raging out of control, it was already higher than when he fought Cell and he hadn't even transformed into the second level.

"Thanks big brother, tell Mommy, I'm sorry." And with that, the youngest child of the saiyan warrior known as Goku, passed into the afterlife. His body breaking apart into little wisps of light. But neither Gohan nor Goten in his last moments noticed the flash barely perceptable to the senses, that occured in the sky above them.

Gohan watched as Goten faded away, the tears now streaming down his face unempeded. His body started to quiver as his power skyrocketed, grief being replaced by rage. Rage at the one who dared to take the life of his brother. Rage at the monster who delighted taking the lives of children. And lastly, rage at himself for not being strong enough to prevent this catastrophe from occuring. As his anger and power rose, the mental walls he had put up over the years started to fall. Gohan had always been afraid of the power that dwelled within him. When he unleashed it against Cell, the aftermath cemented the feeling that it was a horrible thing. This was the main reason he had stopped training, believing that if he stopped fighting it would go away. But now he needed that power, he did nothing to stop the influx of power and screamed his agony to the heavens.

The ground heaved and the sky darkened as Gohan's power skyrocketed, lightning flashing down around him as storms raged overhead. Gohan's screams only intensified as he broke through to the second form of super saiyan for the third time, his body barely managing to keep up with the influx of power. His power was already way beyond that of what he fought Cell and Bojack with, if he were to fight them now they would be crushed even if they fought together. The electric aura that personified super saiyan two was greatly intensified, almost as if his body couldn't contain all the power and needed a release. The effects of Gohan's intense power up could be felt all across the Earth, intense earthquakes measuring at an unprecidented 17.3 on the Richter scale. Every volcano, dormant and active, erupted simultaneously; F5 tornadoes swept over the landscape and cities crumbled. But his power affected not only the Earth, but also the surronding galaxy. It even penetrated far into Otherworld, attracting the attention of its overseer. The scouters of the fractured Planet Trade Organization shattered, the denizens of Namek blacked out as their senses were overwhelmed.

And most unfortunate of all, the lone wizard Babidi stared in shock at the power his instruments were detecting, while his right-hand man, Dabura, was amazed that such a power could even exist. "Master Babidi," Dabura began, "maybe we should wait before we try to resurrect Majin Buu. It would seem that the opposition is too strong for us to handle currently." Babidi was quick too agree, but as he was about to abandon their current course of action he had an idea. Reaching into a storage area that resided between dimensions, he retrieved his crystal ball and the grimoir that had been passed down his family for generations, and considering the longevity and lifespan of his race which numbered several million years of childhood, was close to being as old as the current universe. Babidi quickly scanned the grimoir for a spell that would enable him to see and moniter the power levels he was detecting, and having found it, he quickly channeled the negative energy that was required for manipulating space-time to create a "funnel" enabling his crystal ball to broadcast the events. Seeing the destruction, Babidi rightly assumed that there was a fight going on between the two huge superpowers that his instruments had detected. Cackling with glee Babidi spoke, " Oh my this is great! With this much raw power just one of those powers would be enough to bring Buu up to nearly full! Searching the grimoir, Babidi quickly looked for a spell that would allow him to capture and hold one of those souls and its ki should it perish. Laughing when he found it, once again he channeled the negative energy, only this time it was much more complex in structure.

Babidi's brand of magic was a very old form of magic, very similur to the dragonballs of Namek and Earth. But while the dragonballs used positive energy to fulfill their summoners wishes, Babidi used negative, which is much more volatile and chaotic in nature. The channeling of the spell would require Babidi to connect the pre-existing "funnel" that he had made to the naturally accuring negative belt that surronded the Earths magnetic field, and strengthen this belt to make a "bubble" that would be severed from space and time and channel the souls and ki directly into Babidi's spaceship. However due to the properties of negative energy and the severing of space-time from the spell, its effects would take place before the youngest son of the saiyan known as Goku, would perish.


	2. In the Void

Deep within Otherworld, the plane of existence where all celestial beings and the dead dwell, lies the home of the Supreme Kai. At the very center of the universe, events that transpired here would have an impact on its surroundings for thousands of years to come. Most notable was when Majin Buu massacred the Kai's several million years ago, the resulting backlash was a widespread wave of terror and death across the universe, which lasted for millions of years as tyrants such as the Cold family rampaged across the cosmos. The star sized planet had only two denizens, the Eastern Supreme Kai who inherited the position of Grand Supreme Kai in title only due to being the last survivor of Buu's rampage, and his assistant Kibito, who as part of the universes way of restoring order, was in the process of turning into a Supreme Kai.

As the events on Earth unfolded and Broly unleashed his attack on the children of Goku, that was when the Supreme Kai's attention was first attracted to the small blue world. But it was when the child Goten died that his intrigue turned to fear, for that was when he lost all connection to the planet in a haze of negative energy. While some bits of what was happening leaked through, such as Gohans subsequent rage induced power-up, he for the most part remained blind to the events occurring. But while the energy interference was worrisome it was the recognition of its signature that truly sent fear down the diminutive deity's spine. The son of the Majin sorcerer Bibidi had revealed himself!

Turning to Kibito, Shin said, "Babidi is heading towards Earth, we must act soon to prevent Majin Buu's release. And it seems he has made preparations to obtain the catalyst energy he needs."

"Agreed, stopping Majin Buus resurrection must be our top priority. We cannot afford to fail in this regard."

As the gods of the universe conversed and planned their course of action, the planet Earth faced the explosive fight of two angry godlike saiyans.

As Gohan finished powering up his raging aura diminished while the electrical activity picked up, it even struck out and obliterated the surrounding rock face. Each strike of bioelectricity was enough to kill a man with a power level similar to what Raditz had. Turning to where Trunks lay, Gohan phased over to him and scooped him up. At this point Gohans power had increased so high he had to be careful not to snap his bones as he touched him. Seeing that he was comatose, Gohan slowly trickled energy into his body and once it had permeated through into his muscles he flared the energy through the nerve endings forcing the muscles to contract and waking Trunks up rather painfully. But at this point Gohan couldn't care less; all he wanted was to feel Broly's blood dripping down his arms as he crushed the monsters heart in his hand.

As Trunks was jolted awake, he instinctively struck out at the man holding him. As his fist struck Gohan's chest, a loud crack was heard as the bones in his hand shattered. As he screamed out in pain, Gohan flared his aura and directed the electricity to strike him in the face. The pain sobering him, Trunks stopped screaming and then looked at the person who had forcefully awoken him.

"Gohan?" he inquired. "What happened? Where is Goten, and why are you so powerful?

As Gohan received the barrage of questions, he sent another jolt of lightning into his body to stop the incessant flow of words from Trunk's mouth.

When the jolt ran through Trunk's body he instantly closed his mouth and Gohan quickly used that opportunity to use the residue energy he still had coursing through Trunk's body to lock the muscles in Trunk's jaw. As Trunk's eyes widened from the lack of control he had over his body, Gohan forced his body to float up to his eye level.

"Trunks, since you didn't listen to me earlier I want you to listen to me now. Goten was killed by Broly, and I don't want you or Videl to get caught in this battle. What I want you to do is to first go to the Lookout and get yourself and Videl healed then tell Piccolo about what's happened here. Then go home and get your father, if I know him correctly he has been training so he wouldn't have been able to sense Broly's arrival and our fight. Then no matter what happens here I want you to stay home do you got me?" Gohan intoned sternly.

As Trunks nodded, Gohan relinquished control of his body back to its owner. Trunks then phased over to Videl who still lied in the fetal position from her encounter with Broly, clutching her ruined clothing tightly to her chest to try and cover herself. As Trunks reached out to touch her, she quickly shied away from him, a look of unseeing terror in her eyes. Seeing the problem that Videl had with coping from the horror that Broly had inflicted on her only made his rage burn brighter within him, making his ki shoot up even higher, though not the magnitude it had earlier. Walking over to where the prone female crime fighter lay, Gohan knelt beside her and gently, ever so gently, maneuvered her face into his view. Her unfocused eyes widened in fear at his touch and she tried to resist his administrations, but she might've had better luck trying to empty the sea with a strainer. As they made eye contact, deep teal eyes to crystal blue ones, something sparked in Videls eyes. As she finally came back to reality the first thing she noted was the overwhelming pressure that Gohans presence had, it felt like when air was saturated with moisture but only exponentially more oppressive.

Seeing that Videl had returned from her shell Gohan spoke in a soft tone, almost a whisper, "Videl, I need you to go with Trunks to see a friend of mine, he will make everything better. I'm going to take care of Broly now so there is nothing to be afraid of, he won't bother you anymore."

While Gohan spoke, he took off his ruined gi top and placed it over Videl's exposed torso. As it made contact with her skin she immediately grasped it and drew it more securely over her body. Turning her head towards Gohan, she extended her hand out to his face, but as she did the closer she got, the harder it was to reach him.

Noticing her trouble, Gohan tried to subdue his raging aura as much as possible, allowing her to finally make contact. As she cupped his cheek, she leaned in close and did something very unlike the brash and cocky crime fighter. She kissed him. While not exactly as passionate as either would have liked for their first kiss, it seemed to relay all of her pain and fear to Gohan.

"Make sure you just come back in one piece." She whispered as she withdrew from him.

Standing up, she gathered herself and her remaining ragged clothing and staggered over towards Trunks, the ripped dress dragging across her feet. When she was ready to depart, Trunks positioned himself in front of her so that she could wrap her arms around his neck so she could be carried while still preserving some semblance of modesty. When Videl had been properly positioned, Trunks transformed into Super Saiyan as reserved and controlled as possible to make sure that Videl would not be injured or her clothing being disturbed.

Before Trunks had taken off, he looked over at Gohan and said, "Make sure that freak burns in hell Gohan" with steel in his voice.

As Gohan nodded he gave one more task for Trunks to do, "When you get to the Lookout I want you to have Dende contact all the others and have them meet at the Lookout. And fly as fast as you can, things here are going to get bad fast."

Right when Gohan finished speaking to Trunks, an explosion of raw ki bombarded their senses as Broly resurfaced from where he had laid, temporarily blacked out from Gohan's attack.

"Go now!" Gohan yelled out at Trunks as Broly rocketed towards them, fury radiating in his ki signature at the one who had hurt him so extensively.

Trunks ascended into the air and using his ki, blasted off towards the lookout where he should arrive within several minutes. However before he could travel five miles he was hit by a huge shockwave that was traveling several times faster than him. The shockwave radiated out from Gohan as now that Trunks and Videl were a safe distance away he could power up to his full power.

Before Broly had even gotten half way to his location Gohan had launched himself towards him, his aura blazing with an electrical storm radiating out with such intensity that it nearly blocked out the golden color that was the Super Saiyans trademark. In less than a second Gohan had traveled over three thousand miles and smashed head first into Broly's stomach, instantly bringing a halt to Broly's charge as his body folded over Gohan's head and forcing a pint of blood out of Broly's mouth. Before Broly could recover Gohan then spun like a top causing Broly to spin with him, Gohan then sent a concussive wave of ki forward sending him backwards while propelling Broly in the opposite direction. While Broly was sent flying away, still spinning, Gohan brought his hands forward and from each fingertip sent a thin bolt of ki screaming towards Broly, each blast ionizing the air it passed through creating a strong smell of ozone.

Before Broly had even regained control, a shining green sphere engulfed him, forming just in time to shield him from the thin laser-like beams of ki. As they impacted the protective shield, its shape went from a sphere to ovular, when the last blast impacted it shattered the hastily erected bubble and pierced Broly's left shoulder. The thin beam easily penetrated the giant saiyans skin and muscle tissue, and continued out the other side, cauterizing the wound before any blood could be spilt.

"Damn." Gohan whispered to himself as he saw the damage he inflicted. Drawing on more power, he quickly phased towards Broly who by this time had managed to stop and was assessing the damage with a look of sheer disbelief.

"My arm?" Broly started questionably at the wound "Look what you did to my arm!" Broly screamed.

Turning around back to Gohan, Broly charged ki to his right hand. But before it could form a definite shape, Gohan had reached him and brought his knee into the bottom of his chin, snapping his head up and dislodging a molar. Strike the ears, cause damage to ear drums. Charging ki to both of his hands, Gohan then clapped them together on Broly's head, each ki-enhanced palm smashing onto Broly's ears. The resulting explosion, deafened and severely disorienting Broly, who on instinct, brought his hands to each side of his head, cupping his ears and screamed in pain.

Hit the chest, aim for solar plexus, cause severe shortage of breath. The methodical way Gohan thought was a stark contrast to the way he normally fought; in the past he was reluctant to attack the vulnerable areas of the body. Now he was completely focusing on them and using each and every weakness to his advantage. Gohan quickly closed in on his body and unloaded a blazing barrage of strikes on Brolys chest. Several thousand punches were aimed at or near Broly's solar plexus, each strike creating a large sonic boom that radiated outward and decimated the surrounding landscape. Finishing his attack with a powerful uppercut which sent a fountain of blood bursting from Broly's mouth, Gohan then phased around above Broly. Grabbing onto the back of Broly's knee, Gohan charged energy into his free hand and extended it out, forming a tapered blade, reminiscent of the technique employed by Sauza, one of Cooler's Armored Squadron. With the blade constructed, Gohan brought it down in a slashing arc down across the back of Broly's knee, severing the tendons and muscles that allowed it to straighten and bend.

All those years of study were paying off on the battlefield; human anatomy was almost exactly the same to saiyan anatomy, other than the adaptations to fighting such as increased muscle and bone density and enhanced cellular regeneration, then they could almost be identical. The only skeletal difference was the prehensile tail that all saiyans and some hybrids possess, the glands contained within allowing the individual to transform into the trademark of the species, the oozaru. Gohan also utilized all he learned in the field of physics about energy as well; converting the energy stabilizing the blades integrity into that of pure concussive force, Gohan then shot the transfigured attack at Broly sending him flying straight to the ground where he impacted and continued through the bedrock miles into the ground, almost piercing into the mantle. Gohan did all this without wasting any energy he would have had to expend dissipating and forming a new attack. Minimize area of impact to ensure maximum affect.

Turning towards the storm covered sky, Gohan sent out little pulses of power, smaller than a surgical laser, and created pathways for lightning to travel to. Before the first pulse even reached the clouds, Gohan was modifying his aura and changed its natural electrical flow from negative to positive. What Gohan did was turn himself into a living lightning-rod. As lightning arced down from the negatively charged clouds it found itself a pathway for itself and a focal point. Flaring his aura as the lightning struck him, Gohan clasped his hands together with the first and second digit of each hand extended and the rest intertwined to form a closed fist. Gohan redirected the flow of lightning, which did not cease, into his extended fingers and charged his next attack. Fighters of any remote capability with ki could easily take an impact from a natural lightning strike as it did not have any chance of causing them harm. But the way Gohan was charging his attack was any way other than natural, within less than a tenth of a second it had already reached enough power capable of damaging Cell in his first form. As Gohan continued to charge power from his attack he also was converting it from electrical energy to ki energy, electrical energy would not have any affect on his opponent as Broly's raging aura would siphon away the charge. While it would turn Broly into a living light bulb with an intensity to rival a star for a short period of time, it wouldn't cause him pain as auras from fighters of their caliber already had an electrical output.

With a savage roar Broly' burst from the bedrock; a loud keening was heard from the stressed rock as he literally sheered through a portion with a large metal content. By the time he managed to locate Gohan it was already to late, Gohan had already amassed an enormous amount of power from the energy laden clouds. Unbeknownst to Gohan, he had gathered the power in a very similar way to how the Genki Dama worked. In fact he had gathered power not just from the cloud cover, but also from the sun as well; the electrical pathways he had made also served as a conduit for solar radiation which consisted of the visible spectrum of light and also all other types of electromagnetic waves. The actual power of the attack was much higher than the combined power of the Kamehameha struggle he waged against the bio-android Cell, and the way he had gathered the energy was vastly superior to his own augmented ki manipulation. If he had tried to gather the energy from his own stores it would have taken him three times as long to get the same amount of power as he did from the energy saturated environment. The only reason he was able to obtain the energy he did from the limited area he did was because in the recent years on Earth, there has been so much ambient energy leftover from attacks that it seeped into the planet, also with the sheer amount of power that each of the Z-Fighters possessed it simply radiated out from them on a daily basis creating a huge pool of power on the Earth. While this should have easily caused much more destructive storms and other natural disasters, the only reason it didn't was due to the efforts of the gifted young planetary god Dende.

All these factors combined together to create the nexus that formed Gohans improvised attack. With a wordless scream of pain and anguish, Gohan unleashed his attack on Broly. A wave of bright green ki was upon Broly before he could even fully comprehend the signals his brain was receiving. It completely engulfed and obliterated him and if it weren't for the sheer control Gohan had over it, it easily would have destroyed the Earth and surrounding space in a radius of three light years. Literally the instance Broly's soul was severed from his body it was sucked into a vacuum and shunted directly to Babidi's ship, the process caused intense pain as it exerted a huge amount of pressure directly proportional to the amount of ki Broly's body possessed. Babidi and Dabura were speechless at the readouts they received once his soul was stored. Combined with that they had received just minutes prior, it was enough to bring the total energy needed to revive Majin Buu to just fewer than 89%. Unfortunately as a side effect neither Brolys, Gotens, and all the other souls that had died during that short battle would be released into Otherworld until after Babidi had injected it into Buu's cocoon which still resided on Earth.


	3. Celestial Interferance

The destructive wave of energy continued on past where Broly's body had been disintegrated and was on a direct collision course with the Earths core. With a mild grunt of effort Gohan managed to redirect up and away from the planet and towards the star it rotated around. While he was doing so Gohan immediately started to spread the energy out into an arc that was miles wide and thin enough to protect any planets or stars it might encounter. What had started out as the single strongest attack planet Earth had seen soon turned into one comparable to the level of power the saiyan Nappa had displayed when he destroyed a section of East City.

Now that the focus of his anger had been killed, Gohan began to fully understand the ramifications of what had occurred. Gohan realized that if he had kept training in the years after the Cell games and Bojack's invasion, he might have been able to kill Broly before he set his sights on Goten. Gohan relinquished his hold on the ascended super saiyan form and reverted back to his base, the tears in his eyes now falling unimpeded as they no longer evaporated from the heat that radiated with the trademark aura. The only thing that prevented him from breaking down immediately was the knowledge that Goten could be revived using the Dragonballs. Turning towards the direction he knew the Lookout resided, Gohan blasted off towards it.

Reaching his destination in under two minutes, Gohan was surprised to see that not everyone had arrived yet, mainly Yamcha and Tien. It was understandable though that those two would be the last to arrive, Yamcha due to having forsaken his training long ago, and Tien due to the sheer distance he had to travel as well as holding back so that his friend Chiaotzu could keep up, the dwarf emperor's strength residing mostly in psionic energy and not ki. Even Bulma was there, Vegeta having brought her with once Dende's message had been received. As Gohan looked around at the faces around him, each filled with a degree of sorrow; he noticed Videl walk towards him, her clothing restored most likely from the efforts of Piccolo.

Making that connection in his head, Gohan then searched for Piccolo, but wasn't able to find him among the assembled group.

Seeing the ponderous look on his face Videl spoke, "The large green guy went to go get your mom Gohan; he said it would be important."

And sure enough before Gohan could reply, Piccolo arrived with a raving Chi-Chi, who upon gazing upon the wounded and shirtless visage of her first born, immediately guessed that something was wrong, terribly wrong.

When Piccolo set her down, Chi-Chi scanned the crowd looking for her youngest child. It was when his youthful face did not greet her that she truly started to panic.

"Goten, come here now." She yelled out, desperation creeping into her voice.

She turned around, her head darting frantically as she tried to locate him, but failed. As she turned back towards Gohan, before she could even give voice to the terrible question, she knew. She knew in the way he carried himself. She knew in the way he would not meet her gaze and the tears that stained his face. And she knew when he finally turned to look at her, and shook his head.

It is amazing really how such a simple gesture can have so many meanings. For Chi-Chi it meant only one thing. Her baby was not coming back. Instantly the dam broke; her face contorted into an expression of sheer grief. Tears streamed from her eyes and her nose ran, her knees buckled, and a scream of such agony erupted from her throat that even Vegeta, the man whose dreams of his experiences with Frieza still haunted him, turned away from the sight and felt remorse for the wife of Kakarot.

But it didn't last, like everything else that pained the proud prince, he buried it. Turning towards Trunks, the boy who filled him with pride at having fought a Legendary Super Saiyan and survived, and asked the question that was on everyone's mind, "What happened?"

Trunks froze, his mind replaying the awful events that had taken place barely a half an hour ago. Seeing the expression on his sons' face, one he recognized all to well having worn it during his initial years of being a hostage to Frieza before it corrupted him, Vegeta promptly slapped him.

"Vege-" Before Bulma could even utter his name Vegeta shushed her, holding up his hand and looking at her, not with a glare or snarl, but with a look of pain and empathy.

Turning back to his son who was now struggling to hold back tears as he held his swollen cheek and gazed up at his father, he spoke.

"Don't think about the pain. Don't think about the loss. A warrior cannot afford to carry such weight with him. It will freeze and hold you back, a shell of your former self, if you indulge in the memories. Just tell me the facts and only the facts." Vegeta said all this with the air of someone who had lived through it and survived, which everyone who remembered Vegeta's dark past could testify to.

Trunks just stared up at him, the tears gone, and pondered his words. As he was thinking, the rest of the gang except for the distraught Chi-Chi and the two teenagers Gohan and Videl gathered closer. His patience running out, Vegeta motioned for his son to answer the question everyone was dying to have answers to. Snapped out of his ponderings from the speech his father had given, Trunks told the story.

"Yesterday, I snuck into Mom's lab and grabbed the dragon radar. I figured me and Goten could go have an adventure collecting the balls and making our wishes. We collected the first one no problem, but it was when we found the second one in Satan City that we encountered Videl who when we told her what we were doing joined us. We gathered four more no problem and it was when we reached the seventh balls location in a village we had trouble. This morning we were woken up by explosions and we got out of bed just in time to see a Super Saiyan knock out Videl and stare at her."

At the mention of what Broly did to Videl, Gohans power began to rise, the implications of what could have happened burned into his mind. Videl, who was standing right next to him, could feel the amount of energy that was emanating from him on her skin and by now she knew what it meant. If he didn't calm down, he could easily hurt one of the others which would just make him angrier. Reaching out those few feet that separated them, she slowly wrapped her arms around his torso, both as a comfort for them, and as a sign that it's okay.

When Videl touched him, he immediately stopped his power up and stared at her with wide eyes. As obsidian met blue, understanding flashed between the two. She would be there for him in the trials to come; he saved her life, so now she would repay that by saving his sanity. By this time Trunks had gotten to the part where they discovered the last Dragon Ball behind Broly.

"So me and Goten figured that if I distract Broly, he could get the last Dragon Ball and wish for him to disappear. Well when Goten got it we were about to summon him when Broly interrupted us. He would've taken us both out for sure if Gohan hadn't shown up. So they started fighting and Gohan tricked Broly into some lava. Well he came back out of the lava and managed to knock Gohan away and knock me out. Then he ki-"

At this point in his telling Trunks choked up and wasn't able to finish his sentence, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. Resolved to finish his story at least somewhat Trunks continued.

"Then Gohan came back and woke me up and said to grab Videl and come here. Then Broly started to come back and I left, I didn't even get very far before a huge shockwave hit us!"

At this point everyone had gotten the general idea of what had occurred and were deeply saddened at how Goten had died. It was Yamcha who broke the silence, a grin breaking out onto his face as he recalled something very important. "We can just use the Dragon Balls! They are still there right?"

"Not anymore." It was Piccolo who responded. During Trunk's explanation of what had occurred, he had ventured down to where the battle started and collected them. As he set the tattered green bag down, the magical orbs spilled out from a rent in the side. At this point Gohan stepped forward.

"I'll be the one to do it; I'm the one who failed to protect him. The least I can do is bring him back."

Only Vegeta could understand that this was Gohans way of trying to regain his lost honor, he could only hope the adolescent learned his lesson of letting peace make him soft. It was sheer chance that he had been training in the gravity chamber. Due to the manipulation of the Higgs Field distorting the space around it, sensing energy in and outside the field was nearly impossible, especially if the person is distracted. That was the only reason he did not come to his child's aid, Broly was simply to big of a foe to leave to other warriors. Though he would never admit it, Vegeta was hit hard by the death of young Goten. The child had grown on him, as one of the last members of the saiyan race it was his duty to watch over what remained.

"Arise Shenron I summon you!" Gohans shouted up into the sky as the Eternal Dragon burst forth from the artifacts in front of him.

"You who have summoned me, speak now and I shall grant two wishes." The giant dragon intoned, his deep baritone voice resonating out through everyone's bones.

Videl collapsed down to her knees, in sheer awe of what was in front of her. The power she could feel emanating off of him was unreal, it wasn't just its physical presence, but a more primordial feeling deep in her being. She just knew that this creature could accomplish anything in the blink of an eye with minimal effort on its part. It could destroy the entire north sector of the galaxy like a person swatting a fly. The summoning brought Chi-Chi out of her stupor as she knew what this meant. Her little darling boy was coming home! Stumbling to her feet she made her way over to her surviving child and gazed up with hope at the dragon.

"Bring my brother Goten back to life!" Gohan shouted up at the dragon with joy. His brother was coming home!

"Your wish shall be granted." Shenrons eyes glowed a deep ruby red as he fulfilled the half-saiyans request.

Seconds passed by and still the dragon had not completed the wish, his eyes still red. A full minute passed by and every spirit fell with each second that ticked by. Finally the dragon's eyes stopped glowing and in the past this meant that the wish had been fulfilled. Not this time.

"Your wish can not be granted, it is not within my power." The instance those words were uttered, a scream shattered the silence. Chi-Chi couldn't cope with the crushing despair that resulted from her destroyed hopes and she promptly fainted. Those who knew her were surprised that she lasted as long as she did without doing that, but that thought occurred in a dark deep place that resided in each and everyone one of their minds.

Gohan on the other hand, his reaction was much more explosive. Immediately he transformed into the first form of Super Saiyan, the resulting backlash sending those nearest to him back several feet, their feet carving deep trenches in the pristine tiles of the Lookout. Only his mother escaped his anger as subconsciously he protected her by forming a thin film over her prone body that the shockwave simply passed over. Vegeta immediately grabbed onto Bulma and Trunks to prevent them from going over the edge, Piccolo stepped in front of Videl, protecting her with his own body as a shield.

Screaming out in rage Gohan yelled at Shenron, "Why can't he be revived?"

Nonplussed by Gohans flare up Shenron responded, "The soul of the one called Goten cannot be retrieved at this time, it has not yet passed on into Otherworld. It resides in a container sealed by magic."

That one sentence instantly brought a halt to Gohans power up; it meant that someone was holding his brother's soul captive. Right before he could even ask who it was who was holding his brother it was answered for him.

"His soul is bound by the sorcerer Babidi."

Vegeta immediately tensed and got into a fighting stance in front of his family, with his right hand drawn back to blast or defend, whichever would be more effective, at the sudden intrusion on the Lookout. Everyone turned towards the intruders, with only Piccolo having any idea at the identity of the two strange beings that had materialized on the floating platform.

They were both alien in appearance, with pointed ears and almond shaped eyes, they looked very similar to the elves of old Earth legend. The short one had a light purple skin tone while the tall one's was more of a reddish tone. The short one's skin was smooth with no visible imperfections, in contrast his companions was ruddy and covered in wrinkles. Both had white hair and wore the same style of clothing, with a clasp reaching across to the left shoulder to connect to individual pieces of cloth, it formed a point at each knee and came up in a concave shape to the mid thigh. The purple one's hair was in a Mohawk and his clothing a purple color a shade darker than his skin. The red wrinkly beings hair on the other hand was straight and ran down to his upper back, neither bound or restrained, his clothing was also a shade darker than his own skin tone.

The short one spoke and was immediately recognized as the same voice who answered the unspoken question. "My name is Shin and my companion here is named Kibito. We have been hunting Babidi ever since he showed himself several thousand years ago. He took notice of the fight here on Earth and using his magic, managed to obtain the energy of those who died in the battle. Unfortunately as a side effect of his spell, the souls of those who died are still bound to their ki, so until they are used they won't pass on into Otherworld."

The group looked on skeptical, each still suspicious of the two individuals. Only Piccolo seemed to believe their story fully, his ki reflecting his nervousness being in the presence of these beings. However Gohan leapt at the chance of having a lead on the whereabouts of his brother.

Still in his Super Saiyan form, Gohan phased over directly in front of Shin and grabbed him by his collar. Staring down into his surprised face he screamed, "Take me to him!" he demanded. Kibito reacted instantly; his face contorted with rage as he brought his fist back and smashed a devastating left hook into Gohans face. Only it would've been devastating if it was anyone other than Gohan; he could only look on in horror and disbelief as the boy merely turned his head, unfazed by the strike and spoke in a dangerous tone.

"You shouldn't have done that."

No sooner than after those soft spoken words were uttered did Gohan act. Grabbing onto the elbow of Kibito's still outstretched arm, Gohan sent a pulse of ki directly into the appendage, effectively shattering the joint. As the man tore his arm out of Gohans grasp and screamed out in pain, Gohan brought his arm back for his rendition of a left hook. Only this attack would probably shatter Kibitos skull and disconnect it from his body.

"Gohan, please stop." Those simple words spoken with all the desperation any mother could have, was the only thing that could've stopped the rampaging hybrid.

The only sound was to be heard was the falling of a mothers tears as she saw her son maim and almost kill a stranger right in front of her and all their friends. Chi-Chi lost one of her children to a monster already; she didn't want to see the other turn into one as well.

Only Piccolo and Vegeta could understand the desperation that Gohan felt, each would've done anything to save those they had loved. And they had. When Vegeta and Nappa first came to Earth, Piccolo had sacrificed himself to save Gohan. When his younger brother Tarble had been sent away due to being too weak, Vegeta had challenged his father for the right to decide his fate at the tender age of four. He lost and gained the respect of his father but it was to no avail, his brother was still sent away. He didn't even know if Tarble was still alive. But that was in the past and each was currently focused on the events that were taking place here in the present and not those that happened in the past and lived on only in memories.

Gohan simply froze when his mother spoke. Feeling disgusted with himself at his retaliation when he had been the one to initiate it, he promptly dropped out of his stance, and then out of Super Saiyan. Walking to the edge of the platform Gohan promptly stepped off it. Videl screamed as he did so while the others only looked on, shocked into silence at the brutality he had displayed. Videls screams were silenced however as Gohan floated back up to the Lookout with a green bean in his hand, while he still had wounds that were open, they were ignored as he walked over and offered it to the prone giant. Staring at his arm as though something were wrong with it other than the elbow joint being shattered, Kibito did not immediately notice what Gohan was offering to him. However not many could stand in Gohans presence and not be aware of him and the pressure he emanated, and he quickly looked up.

Seeing the bean as the peace offering it was, Kibito merely grunted and took it, swallowing it in one gulp without bothering to chew it. Almost instantly his muscles bulged and his arm straightened out as the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage were repaired. However other than that Gohan did not apologize to the red man, and simply walked over back to where Shin was standing. While the short man had thought that Gohans power was impressive from the faint emanations he felt from Kaioshinkai it was even more so being witnessed in person.

"Can you take me to where my brother is being held?" Gohans question shocked Shin from his reverie, and he looked back up to the much taller teenager. Regaining his composure he finally responded.

"No I cannot, Babidi's ship is hidden from me. I can only sense him when he is using powerful magic and I fear after the last one he casted he will lie low for the time it takes him to get here."

Gohan and the others started at the revelation that he unveiled.

"How do you know he's coming here?" This question was asked by Krillin, who until this point had been silent. Everyone's murmured assent proved that he wasn't the only one curious.

However Shin merely glanced over at the black haired dwarf and said,

"Because he is going to use that energy to try and revive Majin Buu, whose cocoon lies dormant here on Earth."

Seeing the confusion on some of the faces he further elaborated.

"Majin Buu was a terrible demon who millions of years ago attacked and slaughtered several of the Supreme Kais. Babidi's father Bibidi created and tried to control him but was eventually killed by the remaining Kais before he could attack his next target, which was Earth, but not before he sealed Buu in a cocoon and sent him here."

This revelation brought a bark of laughter from Vegeta. When he was done he looked at Shin and spoke,

"And you expect us to just listen to you?" While this was a fair and reasonable question the answer was not what anybody expected.

"Yes, because I am the only remaining Supreme Kai who survived."

"The Supreme Kai!" Everyone's attention was brought to Piccolo, the normally stoic and unshakable Namek had an expression of sheer shock.

"Vegeta show some respect!" Piccolo yelled at Vegeta, furious at the blatant disrespect for the universes overseer.

Vegeta simply scoffed and turned away from the Namek and Kai both. But mentally he was curious as to how powerful this Buu creature was, if it was strong enough to decimate the very beings who oversaw the universe then surely it would be a worthy foe. Perhaps one worthy enough for the saiyan prince. His musings were cut short as the revealed Supreme Kai started talking again.

"It is because of Majin Buu that I have come here, Babidi already has most of the energy he needs to revive him. I estimate him to need less than 20% to restore him."

This revelation of the amount this Buu needed to be revived shocked Vegeta, gone were his thoughts of fighting this creature. If Goten and Broly's combined powers only resulted in around 80% of the activation then its power must be unfathomable! Now Vegeta wasn't stupid, living with Bulma and the years of his employment with Frieza had left him with great scientific knowledge. You needed it if your pod were to break down on a deserted planet. And the way that saiyan brains were wired left them with an almost perfect photographic memory. The same adaptation for mimicking fighting styles and moves also promoting great intellectual leaps as they could read a textbook and retain almost every single fact. It's the main reason that Gohan was able to study such difficult subjects at the age of four, becoming an expert in several fields of science before his tenth birthday.

Vegeta knew that about activation energy and catalysts, if Buu's cocoon acted the same way as a catalyst then the energy that was inputted would be a mere fraction of the creatures true power. And judging by the power that Gohan fought Broly at, it would be very high indeed.

"None of you are strong enough to even slow Buu down, the most you could do would be entertaining him for a few minutes before he got bored," the Supreme Kai continued, "however there is one item that may prove to be capable of destroying him. The Z-sword."

"But master, surely you don't think that one of these mortals could free the blade? Not even you could!" Kibito interrupted, but before he could continue he was silenced by a stern look from his elder.

"You yourself have felt the power of one of these mortals Kibito!" He snapped, his patience with the future Kai running thin. Reigning in his irritation, Shin turned to face Gohan.

"I believe you have the power to free the Z-sword from its prison. It is held on a tall rocky spire on my planet. I would like you to come with us back there to attempt to free it. Will you join us?" The short god questioned.

Without hesitation Gohan asked, "Will this give me the power to destroy this Buu creature and save my brother?"

Shin nodded, the shadows from Shenron covering sections of his face, giving him a very mysterious appearance.

"Then I'm in." Was Gohans simple reply, causing Chi-Chi to start crying again. Once again her son would be leaving to prepare for a threat coming to Earth, this was the very reason she tried to prevent his training. She knew the danger that came from these fights, her husband having died twice to save the planet and now Goten as well. If she lost Gohan she might not have the strength to carry on, only the knowledge that Goten would come back kept her from breaking down.

"How long do we have till Babidi arrives?" This time from Tien, the three eyed man having the presence of mind to figure out how long they had to prepare.

"About six and a half months." Came the short reply.

"That's enough time, while it may not be as much as we had with the androids at least we know what we are up against unlike with Cell." Vegeta spoke with the authority one could only possess if they were from royalty. Turning towards Piccolo, the Namek being the only one apart from Gohan who could push him in his Super Saiyan form he said, "Namek, you will spar with me. I expect to see you tomorrow at Capsule Corp." And with that he picked up Bulma and flew back towards home, his aura protecting her from the harsh winds produced by the speed of his takeoff, Trunks in hot pursuit. As the family left they were shortly followed by the human fighters, each flying back to where they called home. Only Tien had the idea of training for this threat, the others having given up long ago at being any help to the saiyans. Soon only Videl, Chi-Chi, and Gohan remained of those who did not live there.

Turning to these two strong women, Gohan stepped forward and embraced his mother for what would be the last time for months. Squeezing her son Chi-Chi sobbed into his naked chest, unwilling to let him go.

"Everything will be okay mom; I will bring Goten back and make sure that nothing else will happen." He whispered to her as he rubbed her back, soothing her. But everything has its time and it was time for it to end. Turning towards Videl he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. Walking towards him she stopped just a step away, and in a voice barely heard by him she whispered.

"Please just come back safe." Gohan gave a sad smile at his friend; his reply was just as quiet.

"Don't worry, I will." And with that he turned towards Shenron, who had been waiting patiently, partly due to the presence of the Supreme Kai, and partly due to the sheer emotional trauma that he witnessed. Raising his voice at the dragon he uttered his only wish.

"I wish for all the damage caused by the fight between me and Broly to be restored."

Once more Shenrons eyes glowed red, only this time it lasted seconds.

"Your wish has been granted," He spoke, though remarkable not nearly as loud as he normally did, "what is your next wish?"

Turning towards Dende Gohan asked, "What happens if we don't use the second wish?"

Not expecting the question it took some seconds for the young god to think and reply to it.

"If the second wish is not used then the Dragon Balls will scatter across the globe as they always do, only this time they will be stone for only six months." Was his reply, sounding far older than his years.

"Perfect, that fits in with our time schedule quite nicely." Turning towards Shenron he spoke once more. "We have no more wishes, you can return to your slumber Shenron."

Nodding once, the great dragon split into seven orbs and scattered across the planet again, once again to slumber until they were gathered again.

His business done, Gohan turned and walked back to the Supreme Kai, where Kibito placed his hand on Gohans shoulder. Before they could leave however, Piccolo called out to his former protégé.

"Gohan, I'm proud of you." Gohan merely gave a sad smile back to his first friend before Kibito teleported him and Shin back to their plane.

Gohan stared in wonder as they traveled through hyperspace. The myriad colors amazing him as galaxies passed by them in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it they arrived at their destination, and Gohan got a face first look at the ground. The gravity was 500x stronger than that of Earths. Only the mystical intervention of the Kai's prevented the flora and fauna from disintegrating under the immense pressure. With a grunt Gohan powered up enough that he could get to his feet. When he did he was amazed at the sight. The sky was purple, with several moons visible each larger than Earth. The grass was green like the kind that grew on Earth and the trees were identical in structure. But what really got to Gohan was the spire of rock that jutted out from over the horizon, its height exceeding that of Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain in the Sol system by several thousand miles.

As he stared up at the enormous spire Kibito spoke quiet haughtily.

"Welcome to Kaioshinkai!"

* * *

Power Levels:

Cell: 5,640,000,000

Bojack: 5,320,000,000

Gohan(Cell Games and Bojack Tournament SS2): 5,987,000,000

Gohan(Cell Games and Bojack Tournament base): 59,870,000

Gohan(Teen base): 42,361,000

Gohan(Teen SS): 2,131,550,000

Gohan(Teen Rage SS2): 9,165,000,000

Broly(First movie): 6,763,000,000

Broly(Second movie): 7,847,000,000 boost from Zenkai

Vegeta(Base): 67,912,000

Vegeta(SS): 3,395,600,000

Piccolo: 2,003,000,000

Kibito: 39,752,000

Supreme Kai: 2,689,000,000

I based Kibito and Supreme Kai's levels on around what Toriyama said, Shin being stronger than Piccolo but a large margin and Kibito being able to give Gohan a good challenge in his base form. I always enjoyed power levels, I like putting numbers on things. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask!


	4. Sword in the Stone

The Z-sword rested upon the tallest rock formation in the universe. The distance it projected out of Kaioshinkai's soil was equal to that of the diameter of planet Jupiter. The spire itself was very thin, barely a few square meters, just enough for three people to stand around the sword. But that wasn't the only thing about the planet that Gohan noticed. The very air was charged with power, it thrummed with it! Gohan took a step forward and as he did he noticed a fluctuation. Turning around he noticed that sparkles of ki were rippling from where he moved, like the wake of a boat. He estimated that in just a square mile there was enough power to rival that of Frieza, an astronomical amount to be contained in such a small space.

"Kibito, please heal our friend here." Said Shin, gesturing to Gohan as he did.

Kibito then crossed the small distance to Gohan who turned and looked at him; proto-god and saiyan hybrid gazed at each other. It was Gohan who broke the struggle between wills as his vision was drawn to movement from below. Kibito raised his hand and placed it on the teens head, he smirked.

"This might tickle." And with that a wave of power emanated from his palm, coursing through Gohan.

Many changes took place in the eighteen year olds body, first it traveled down through his head, correcting small damage to his ear drums and straightening out his nose, smoothing out the cartilage from where it had been broken countless times through training and combat. It reached his neck and eased away the large growth of bone halfway down, a souvenir from when Recoome of the Ginyu Force broke it with a kick. It continued to his shoulders and corrected muscle problems where they had disconnected and reconnected in the wrong places, reaching his ribs it rubbed over each one, fixing the small cracks and smoothing them out from the knobby bone growths each break caused. It continued down the rest of Gohans body and fixed any imperfection it found while still keeping the strength that each healed break infused into the bone. When it reached the bundle of nerves at the base of his spine, things got interesting.

Gohan screamed out in pain as it felt like liquid fire had erupted on his tailbone. Each nerve was being reconstructed and attached to an appendage long removed. This rewiring of the nerves was what caused the pain. While it was soon over, the pain left him gasping and sweating. In half a minute the healing was finished, Gohan collapsing to the ground as it did.

"What did you do to me?" he asked when he regained enough breath to do so.

Kibito grinned, the power he held over the youth felt good after the recent humiliation he suffered at his hands.

"I simply healed you, while Senzu beans may work as a quick fix they don't really fix the problem, being designed to only keep one full and restore the individual to their maximum power. Any injuries you have would impede that so it crudely fixes them. And while your young guardian Dende may be skilled, I have had over a million years to perfect my art, it helps I was a healer on my home world."

Kibito's parent race was actually the same as the one Jeice and Sauza belonged too, only being a million years more primitive he didn't have the same physical characteristics, his height being much larger as a result.

Gohan tried to stand once more, but when he got halfway up he was pulled back down, off balance. Turning around he noticed the reason for the pain he experienced earlier. His tail had grown back! Saiyans with their tails intact will always be a better fighter than one without a tail as the nerve bundles in the tail act as a shortcut for the muscles, leaving the brain with more time to process other information that could be beneficial. For instance some of the benefits being heightened reflexes and easier energy manipulation. However the same benefits can also be a major weakness, the nerve bundles being extremely sensitive to the slightest pressure. When held it immediately draws all the energy from the body to the tail to prevent potential damage thus weakening the body to the extent it can't move.

Gohan didn't know this, all he could remember that he had much better balance when he had it, so as his body quickly adjusted to the furry appendage he stood back up. With his mind off of the obvious discomfort he felt from the healing and the shock of finding his tail regenerated, Gohan noticed the ease he had moving his neck, the stiffness he had had for years being gone. His hearing had sharpened as well, where as before it had been beyond human now it was like he could hear a pin drop from a mile away! And it wasn't just his hearing that improved, every single one of his senses did. A result of the accumulated sensory damage he received from all the blows and blasts to the head.

Gohan started testing out his new mobility by jabbing at the air, each strike creating an air pressure that slammed into the ground miles away due to the planets curvature. It wasn't with just the power increase that Gohan was amazed with; he had to put almost no effort into throwing the punches, no cognitive action. If he had the slightest whim for his body to react it did, so each strike was faster than someone else with the same power level could throw. Each strike was thrown much more fluidly he noticed, the joints having been recreated as brand new.

"Amazing." Gohan said in awe of his bodies new found capabilities. The only thing he would have to do would be to desensitize his tail, a simple matter of getting the tail used to pressure and strengthening it.

Kibito once more stepped forward with his hand raised. This time instead of resting his hand on Gohans head he put it above his right shoulder. A flash of light and he was done. Gohan was now clothed in the same garments that he and Shin wore, though with a dark blue chest piece with lighter almost teal colored arms, the earrings he wore were also identical but a dark bluish color as well. The other difference was that these were weighted. On Earth the tunic would've weighed ninety tons, the boots thirty tons each, and the pants underneath being forty-five tons. But the gravity made it much different; Gohan was sent straight through the ground, traveling two hundred meters straight down before he could catch himself. Sweat poured from his head as he struggled with the intense weight, each muscle was clenched as he tried his hardest to resist gravities pull.

With a roar he unleashed all his ki without transforming, a white aura bursting around him, cutting straight through the rock to create a bowl shape a hundred feet in diameter with him in the center. Rising through the air with moderate difficulty he landed in front of the astounded Kibito and Supreme Kai.

Staring into their faces Gohan said, "Well shouldn't we get a move on? I've got a sword to pull out of a rock." And with that he took off towards the spire, moving at a quarter of the speed he would've without the weighted clothing, sweat pouring off of him in waves from the effort, Kibito and Shin quickly following.

As they flew Gohan couldn't help but ponder the concept of fighting this Buu creature, like Vegeta, he too had realized the possibility of it being far stronger than Broly and Gotens combined energies. Though with magic nothing was for certain, but it would be pointless to amass that energy to revive it if it wasn't much stronger than the required energy. You could simply pump it into another fighter and have the same result. And why would they need a special sword to defeat it? There had to be something about the sword to make Shin believe it to be the only thing capable of stopping Buu.

Twisting with mild difficulty in midair, Gohan faced Shin and asked his questions, hoping to find appropriate answers.

"So what about this sword makes it so special? Does it have any unique properties?"

Shin looked at Gohan as he pondered those questions. The legends that had been passed down from his ancestors about the sword weren't exactly specific. They mostly spoke about how the person who freed it from its prison would gain immense power capable of defeating anyone. While the information might not be helpful to Gohan it was certainly all he had to give.

"All that is said about the sword is that the wielder is supposed to gain immense power and be unstoppable; anything other than that however, I do not know."

Gohan was silent as they flew to their destination, his anger rising. How could the beings who oversaw the entire universe not know anything about something that was on their planet! Soon his anger fed his power again and he picked up speed, the weight lifting from his body. Kibito struggled to keep up as Gohan soon outpaced him; even without weights the god to be was weaker than Gohan. They soon reached the base of the spire and while the gods stopped at it and then ascended, Gohan simply arced up several miles away, his path being asymptotic to the wall of rock. Even outside of combat the saiyan did everything to conserve energy and make the most effective use of it possible.

The further Gohan went up in the air, the easier it became to move as gravities pull was lessened. With a final burst of speed Gohan raced towards the top, hoping to get there as soon as possible. Even moving at top speed though it still took them about half an hour to reach the top, the sheer distance being further than anything Gohan had had to travel before. Landing on a perfectly flat surface, the instance Gohan looked at the sword he felt a pull. It pulled at his heart, his ki; it pulled at everything he was. However as fast as the sensation came it was gone, as fleeting as the wind.

"This is the Z-sword." Shin said as he and Kibito landed soon after, Kibito breathing heavily. Having exerted much more than usual to keep with Gohan, his power just kept growing! It was unreal thought Kibito; no creatures' ki should increase constantly. What they didn't know was that ever since the fight with Broly, when Gohan had smashed the barriers he made on his power, it kept trickling out. Slowly at first, but every time he got mad the process accelerated. At its current procession he would regain the power he had lost from lack of training in just one month with no training at all. Combining that with the training Gohan would do, the result will truly be terrifying to behold.

Gohan didn't reply to the Supreme Kai however, having known it was the Z-sword the instance he laid eyes on it. Walking towards the sword Gohan placed his hands on the hilt, the silver blade gleaming in the sunlight. Giving an experimental tug, Gohan tested how securely the blade was embedded in the rock. It did not budge. His mind working, Gohan knew that only one of two things could be holding the sword in place, it either had immense weight, or magic. Testing to see if it was the second, Gohan leaked energy out into the blade. Due to the way metal atoms interact with each other, any form of energy is transported with the greatest of ease. There was a reason that only metal conducts electricity, the electrons being shared among all the bonded atoms just passed it along.

The instance his ki entered the blade however; it was blocked and sent back to him. Something was already occupying the blade. Wondering if this was the immense power that the Supreme Kai had mentioned, Gohan filed away that information away to the back of his mind to be used at a later date. Releasing his hold on the blade, Gohan stepped back from the sword. Kibito looked on in triumph, presuming that he had been right all along in the mortal's inability to release the blade.

What Gohan did next shocked both him and Shin however. Kneeling down next to the sword, Gohan placed one hand on the hilt and the other on the ground, almost touching the blade. Then flaring into Super Saiyan, Gohan sent a pulse of ki into the rock, directing it to surround the blade but never touch it. He knew what the result would be if he did. With a shout Gohan then converted all the ki into heat, vaporizing the rock instantly while simultaneously pulling on the sword. With the lack of friction imposed on the blade the sword slid free. Standing up Gohan then grasped the hilt with both hands, having felt the weight during that brief time he held it.

Kibito fell back in shock, the mortal hadn't even tried! Shin on the other hand merely smiled, yes he chose right. Gohan was the perfect combination of strength and intelligence, with the right work he would be the ultimate warrior.

Gohan admired the Z-sword; the blade was heavy maybe weighing more than his whole outfit combined. Other than that however it wasn't anything special, it probably was no more special than the sword Piccolo had made for him as a kid preparing for Vegeta and Nappa to arrive. Of course in the frenzy of his mind selecting the best course of action to free it, Gohan had forgotten about what he felt inside the blade. That was the true importance of the sword.

Reverting back from Super Saiyan, Gohan immediately toppled over the edge of the platform, the immense weight pulling him over. The air around him literally screamed as he fell, the friction erupting flames around his body as he struggled to control his descent, however he did not relinquish his hold on the sword. If he dropped it who knows how far it would penetrate into the planet, probably far enough that it would enter the mantle. And while Gohan could follow it, if it entered there, it would be next to impossible to retrieve it, the intense heat and pressure of the star sized planet would force him to concentrate all of his ki into a protective shield. It would severely limit his sight as the molten rock would obscure everything that wasn't in contact with the shield.

And so Gohan was forcing his ki to climb higher and higher, he refused to transform though. The ease he held it with a two handed grip would make the training worthless. While so far he had managed to halve his speed it wasn't enough, he was almost at his maximum and it wasn't enough. With a feral scream Gohan forced his body to push past its normal limits, ki pouring into each muscle and forcing them to bulge out. The process was similar to what Vegeta and Trunks had employed when they manipulated the Super Saiyan form to train for Cell. Each joint ached, the muscle fibers tearing, and still it wasn't enough. In a last ditch effort Gohan projected a wave of ki out from his body in the opposite direction of the rock face. The result was instant; Gohan slammed into the wall with immense force. If he had hit impacted the Earth with the same force it would have split the planet, shattering the core. The impact shattered almost every bone in his body, in fact Gohan was lucky. If Kibito hadn't repaired his body the way he had then Gohan would be dead, instead he was only an inch away. With the desperation of a dead man, he stabbed the sword into the cliff. The sword slid through the rock like a hot knife through butter but it slowed down. A mile from the ground the sword slid to a stop, Gohan hanging onto the hilt, unconscious, his body having shut itself down to prevent further damage. But still he clung on, his muscles having locked themselves into an iron grip.

It was like this that Shin and Kibito found him, each having followed at top speed but unable to catch up.

"Kibito quick heal him now!" Gone was the composure the short Kai imposed on himself, desperation and fear of losing their only hope tends to do that.

Kibito lunged forward, the idea already in his mind before his superior had voiced it. Waves of power emanated from his hands as he worked frantically to save the half saiyan. It was almost a full minute of constant healing before Gohan regained consciousness, still gripping the sword. Then it happened. His power skyrocketing as the muscles and bones knit themselves back together. The power boost he received from the Zenkai igniting his aura, creating a shockwave that pushed Kibito four miles back. He would have kept going but luckily he slammed into a mountain. While unharmed it still left him in a daze as Gohans power kept rising. Gohan now easily surpassed the power he possessed seven years ago. This Zenkai was not normal however; the huge amount of ambient energy in the surrounding environment being sucked into his body. What a Zenkai did was, as the cells replicated, they drew not only on the body's natural resources but that in the area as well. And considering the astronomical energy density of Kaioshinkai, it was a Zenkai like no other.

A raging aura surrounding him, Gohan spoke, his head tilted sideways facing the Supreme Kai.

"Let's get this training started." And with that he turned and yanked the Z-sword out from the cliff.

* * *

Vegeta turned the gravity chamber up to 200x Earths gravity. As the main console hummed, he let his body adjust for a second before facing Trunks. Definitely not for the first time nor would it be the last, he greatly appreciated the benefits of the chamber. The console itself was actually a miniature atom smasher, when turned on it sent two atoms flying towards each other at light speed. Much more efficient than atom smashers in the past, not only was it able to send particles at light speed, it was also exponentially smaller. When the two particles would collide, they would break into their baser components and one of those components was the Higgs Boson. While its life was very short, if left unchecked it decomposed into light photons, it was very important however. The Higgs Boson was what gave objects their mass. The tower that extended from the top of the console harnessed the Higgs and manipulated them, essentially giving objects in the room much greater mass. The console directed the Higgs effects into the floor so that only it would increase heavily in mass, thus increasing the gravity. And since mass bends the space around it, increasing the mass will distort the space around it creating a field that energy cannot penetrate effectively.

Vegeta was filled with pride as he faced his son; the highest gravity that Trunks had been able to withstand was only 125x. Upon getting home, Vegeta had immediately pulled Trunks into the chamber. From past experience Vegeta knew that the best way to deal with grief was to train until exhaustion, and so he would not let Trunks dwell on today's events.

Trunks was currently down on his hands and knees, unprepared for the sudden increase. He gathered his ki and prepared to ascend when he was stopped by a kick in the ribs courtesy of his father.

"You will not transform here. It is pointless to train as a Super Saiyan in this place; the gains you will make would be minimal compared to if you had trained in your base. Our mission is to get as strong as possible, as soon as possible." Vegeta spoke with the authority of a drill instructor, barking his instructions at Trunks.

Getting into his fighting stance, right arm extended from the shoulder, bent at the elbow, while the left arm coiled in front of his chest. His knees bent and spread out to shoulder width apart, ready to move or absorb impact. As he did so he also lowered his power level to around twice that of Trunks, giving him the advantage and forcing Trunks to push himself; seeing Trunks still on the ground against the wall where he landed he spoke.

"Get up and attack me!"

Not wanting to disappoint his father, Trunks struggled to his feet, clutching his chest. Settling into his respective stance, right leg and arm back, left leg and fist up in front of his center of balance ready to push off either at the slightest twitch. Forcing his ki to the extreme, a pale translucent aura erupting around him, he charged.

Shockwaves shook the ground around Capsule Corp as the father son duo fought. Vegeta defending for the most part, only attacking when there was a glaring weakness in his son's technique. His fists being the only commentary he would make. Unbeknownst to Trunks, Vegeta had set the console to periodically increase in increments of ten. Finally, by the time it reached 250x Trunks passed out. More exhausted than he had ever been before, he made a grievous error, losing focus of his father as he gathered ki into a parody of his father's signature technique, the Final Flash; he exposed his entire front and back side to attack. Normally when Vegeta would prepare this attack, he flared his aura to the maximum density to form a protective shield, he would also make sure he was far enough away that he could react properly if the opponent were to amount an offense.

Trunks prepared the attack only ten feet away from Vegeta, with no aura in sight, the concentration needed to maintain it gone. A small smile on his face, Vegeta ended the fight. Leaping the short distance separating father and son, he injected his own energy into Trunk's outstretched hands, destabilizing the orbs and causing them to erupt. Not having gathered enough power to substantially harm himself, the explosion only caused superficial burns and bruises; it was Vegeta's knee embedded in his stomach that knocked him out.

Reaching down to pick his son up, Vegeta gave the verbal command to shut down the chamber, the accumulated Higgs decomposing into light now with no holding force stabilizing them. As he carried the prone child out towards his room, Vegeta spoke with sincerity.

"You've made me proud Trunks.

* * *

Gohan:(After total healing from Kibito) 46,228,000

Gohan:(Super Saiyan pulling sword out) 2,311,400,000

Gohan:(After healing from fall) 71,613,000

Trunks:(Gravity Chamber,Base) 1,028,000

Vegeta:(Training Trunks) 2,056,000

I had fun writing up the Z-sword bit, there should've been a hint what lay inside it. Any questions please don't be afraid to ask.


	5. Heaven and Earth

The best words to describe it would be it was a hurricane; a hurricane of steel and rock. Kibito, using his telekinetic abilities, had formed a cyclone around Gohan; the youth clad in dark blue Kai clothing was breathing heavily as he cleaved through boulder and deflected rock. The Supreme Kai watched on from a distance, smiling with pride at the progress the teenager had made with the blade. Ever since that terrifying moment when he had nearly plummeted to his death atop the spire, he had made tremendous progress. The Zenkai he had acquired had greatly sped things along as it allowed him to travel freely with the Z-sword without freefalling.

Gohan had not transformed into a Super Saiyan since his arrival, preferring to stay in his base and increase his strength as much as possible. It had been three months since the fateful day that Broly had attacked and Gohan still remembered each moment as if he were still there. It gave him the drive to push himself like he had never pushed himself, it helped he could be careless and hurt himself knowing that Kibito could easily heal him. The only other time Gohan had trained even half as hard as he was now was when he had prepared for Cell in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in the Lookout. Having wielded a sword in his youth, Gohan had easily regained the technique and finesse he had lost, the sword becoming an almost perfect extension of his body.

Seeing that Gohan was almost done with his training, the rock having almost been reduced to a fine powder as the force Gohan hit them with destabilized the molecular bonds, causing a bright flash as the energy was released, Shin made his way over. Over the past weeks Shin had been debating to pass on a certain technique, Instantaneous Movement. Similar to the Instant Transmission that the Yardrats have developed, only far more advanced, the Kai version was not limited to the sensing of ki. While you can sense ki to orient yourself to a specific place, you can also travel to places devoid of life. The technique left you free to wander hyperspace, able to explore it freely. Once in hyperspace, the laws of physics were abandoned and the universe literally bent to your will. Time dilation between the two spaces was immense; you could spend an hour in hyperspace with only the briefest femtosecond having passed in normal space. In hyperspace you merely have to imagine or speak your destination; like the Dragon Balls, the space complied with the exact specifications of your desire and didn't muddle the effects, it wouldn't deposit you into a place that would be inhospitable. Upon reaching your destination any information about it would be available, atmospheric conditions, gravity, anything that couldn't be sensed.

While Instant Transmission works in almost the exact way, it is fundamentally different. Upon the first invention of the technique the Kai's intervened. They rewrote the laws of hyperspace to force the unique breach into hyperspace to be confined and merely tunnel the user to a ki. Letting mortals have free reign over their destinations would cause immense problems not easily reversed if left unchecked. Shin decided that Gohan was worthy of this prestigious honor of being able to roam hyperspace, not only would it expand his knowledge, but it would also help greatly in the war against Majin Buu.

Seeing that Shin had wandered over, Kibito cancelled the debris field, which at this point resembled a sandstorm. As the powder scattered in the winds, Gohan glanced over at Kibito and Shin. Once Gohan's attention was on him, Shin beckoned him over. Once the teen was near Shin spoke.

"I have a surprise for you Gohan." He said in a joyous and proud tone. During the time that Gohan had spent on Kaioshinkai he had dropped his calm collected façade, revealing himself to be a joyful almost innocent man.

"I am going to teach you the most sacred of techniques, the Instantaneous Movement." This shocked Kibito, while he certainly wasn't expecting this to be the surprise he in no way disagreed. The time he had spent with Gohan on the planet making him realize the mortal's true worth; their relationship had started out remarkably similar to that of when Piccolo had first trained the boy, seeing him as an annoying necessity at first which quickly turned into respect in his case, love in Piccolo's.

Gohan immediately recognized the import, during the teleportation to Kaioshinkai, Gohan had noticed instantly the freedom with which he could move. Turning the times his father had teleported themselves someplace he always felt constricted, squeezed almost. During the journey to his current location he quickly deduced that it was a much more powerful technique than that of his fathers.

"To learn this technique is going to require great concentration Gohan. Your mind must be entirely clear and your ki stable. Any fluctuation and it will not work. Now come and stand before me." As Gohan took those few steps separating them, Shin stretched out his arm and placed the palm of his hand on Gohans chest.

"Clear your mind. Focus only on my energy. Feel every detail." And with that he poured out his power into Gohan and converted himself to pure spiritual energy. Ki and spiritual energy were very similar, in fact they were intertwined. Ki was the power source of the physical body while spiritual was obviously the source for the soul. Once an individual died, the two energies combined allowing the spirit to possess both aspects of themselves in Otherworld. Those on either sides of moral extremity were allowed to utilize ki and spiritual energy while those who weren't only got to use spiritual. The ki was then recycled out into the universe, the law of the conservation of energy being false on a universal scale, it was what allowed beings to gain the strength they did, as they got stronger the universes ki went into the planet of residence replacing the lost energy.

As Shin converted himself into spiritual energy, the ki he left inside of Gohan also was converted, showing Gohan how to do it himself. However the continued contact between the two also transformed Gohan without him having to do it himself. Shin had figured it would be easier to show Gohan how to do it without just telling Gohan how to do it and let him do it, the results of a mistake could easily suck up all of his ki leaving him unconscious. The result was instant, once converted they simply slipped into hyperspace, hyperspace was the dimension connecting Otherworld from the Livingworld, so thus it was the pathway for spiritual energy to travel along; which was why both the Instant Transmission and Instantaneous Movement were able to travel freely between the two dimensions.

Upon entering hyperspace, Gohan found he did not need to breath. He also noticed instantly that there was an immense pressure on his mind; being connected to the entire universe put a strain on the body. However just like all pressures one can easily adjust to it and Gohan was able to think properly within minutes. As Shin waited for Gohan to acclimate he was astounded at the hybrids resilience; when he learned the technique himself in a similar way he had blacked out immediately upon full exposure to the universe.

Once Gohan had recovered he stood up, staring in wonder at his surroundings. Shin smiled at the boys childish fascination, he saw a lot of himself in Gohan, both had felt the pain of loss relatively soon into their lives. Gohan with the fight against the saiyans and Frieza, Shin with the massacre of his fellow Kais; this made Shin hope all the more that soon Majin Buu's threat would be over so that there would be no more pain, no more sorrow.

"Now Gohan, what would you want to see?" Gohan pondered this question, endless possibilities flashed through his mind. Who to see, his mother, Videl, Piccolo? None of them seemed appropriate, not until he finished his training anyway. The only places other than Earth he had seen was both the old and new Namek and they probably wouldn't recognize him. That left only one option. His father.

"I want to see my father." He whispered, and instantly their bodies were shunted towards another section of Otherworld, like sitting in a car or train. Their bodies traveled, the scenery passing them by. They whizzed by countless wonders, passing through several Kai domains, along several pathways, each similar to the Snake Way leading towards the remains of the North Kai's home. Finally they reached the Grand Kai's planet, much smaller than Kaioshinkai; it was filled with fighters from all over the universe. Gohan could sense every single power level with surreal clarity, and among them he felt his father's. While he was much stronger than when he had died he was now weaker than Gohan was, just like during the Cell games. Upon arrival Shin decreased the time dilation, thus enabling Gohan to see events unfold as they happened in real time.

Goku was currently fighting two other fighters, the information on both being presented to Gohan. Olibu, human fighter from Earth; he had died over seven thousand years before Gohan was born and had died saving the world from an evil sorcerer. Turns out he had actually inspired the mythos of the man Hercules, the ancient Greek hero with immense strength. Pikkon, of the race Gurin, died four thousand years ago of old age. He saved the entire western quadrant from Bojack's gang, holding them off long enough for the four base Kais to seal them in a star.

As a Super Saiyan Two, Goku was easily holding his own against the combined might of the two fighters. Dodging and weaving between their blows, his movements as fluid as water; he kept the two at bay. Seeing his father brought tears to his eyes, last time Gohan had seen the orange and blue gi wearing saiyan was when he had teleported himself and Cell away from Earth to save it from Cells self destruct.

"He would be proud of you Gohan." Shin said unexpectedly. Silence reigned in hyperspace as they watched the saiyan eventually get tired of defending and went on the attack. Two minutes and Olibu had fallen, one more and so to did Pikkon. As Goku powered down and turned to King Kai, a smile on his face the entire time.

"Take me back." Whispered Gohan, tears falling unimpeded down his face; while he was glad that he got to see his father once again, he was also saddened. He had failed him; his father had entrusted the fate of the world and he let it all slip away. His power had atrophied, his skills rusted away, and Goten had paid the price.

"No Gohan, you must take us back." Shin said, looking at the teen with sympathy. However Gohan needed to learn and the best way was for him to do everything.

"Kaioshinkai." Said Gohan, and in a streak of light they were whisked away from the Grand Kai's planet, invisible to all who dwelt there.

However upon reaching Kaioshinkai they encountered a problem, Gohan didn't know how to reenter normal space. Since in order to enter hyperspace you need to convert your ki energy into spiritual energy, Gohan theorized that the opposite was also true. Gohan calmed himself down, forcing his breathing to even out. Once he was ready he commenced. Remembering how it felt when Shin had converted his ki energy to spiritual, Gohan attempted to reverse the process. Shin watched the entire time, reading Gohans signature as it fluctuated. Once Gohan had converted half of his spiritual to ki, Shin intervened.

"That's enough Gohan. You only need to go halfway before you can reenter." He spoke. Gohan looked at him and evened out the proportions to once again their normal state of rest.

"So how do I get out of hyperspace?" Said Gohan, looking down at the surface of Kaioshinkai from his position in hyperspace; due to the lack of physics in hyperspace Gohan did not realize that not only could he will himself to a place, but that he could also freely travel under his own power, the method was great for fine placement.

"Once the proper balance of the ki and spiritual energies has been met, all that is left to do is to will yourself to enter. However you will enter in the location you are currently in so make sure it is hospitable. That is only true in your dimension as everywhere in Otherworld is hospitable, even our version of your outer space."

And with that Gohan warped them to Kibitos location, time dilation having taken affect immediately when they moved from Grand Kai's planet. Once situated Gohan willed himself to enter normal reality. Gohan immediately dropped to the ground, gasping for breath and covered in sweat. His body, while remarkably adaptable, was not used to the strains of crossing dimensions freely. Every other time it had been through the power of someone else so the stress wasn't placed directly on him. Even so Shin and Kibito were amazed that Gohan had handled it as well as he was doing, when they themselves had learned the technique they had passed out upon entering and leaving hyperspace. And he would continue to amaze them as time progressed.

* * *

Gohan stood in his basic combat stance, Z-sword held in a two handed grip in front of him, legs bent and shoulder width apart. Surrounding him was a ring of rock, each five meters across. Closing his eyes in concentration, Gohan channeled his energy. With an audible whoosh, he disappeared. He reappeared by each rock, slicing each in half with a single stroke of the blade, upon bisecting each rock he disappeared at speeds far faster than anyone could move. Since learning the Instantaneous Movement, Gohan had been using it every chance he could to master it, as he was doing now. Every attack was between dimensional jumps, no movement was made in the dimension save for the swing of his arms. His success lay in part to the tail currently wrapped around his waste, his body and mind being able to adapt to the interdimensional jumps much faster and easier than it normally would have. The conversion of his ki was also greatly enhanced, he could actually shift into hyperspace twice as fast as Shin and Kibito could, and they have had much more experience with the technique than he had.

Kibito was amazed; it had taken him over a hundred thousand years to be able to teleport with the efficiency and tolerance that Gohan was displaying. Shin was also similarly impressed; but ever since Gohan had pulled the Z-sword out and survived the way he did from the fall he knew that Gohan was special. His unique physiology giving him an incredible advantage over about any other species in the universe, saiyans had an unlimited ability to gain power and adapt while humans were very skilled at energy manipulation once having access to it. This combination led to the birth of a warrior like no other.

Finishing his training, Gohan sent out a kiai that disintegrated the remaining rocks. Having cleaned up the area, Gohan walked over to Kibito, the weight on his body not slowing him down in the slightest. Gohan had gotten to powerful for the weight that Kibito had imposed on him upon his arrival to Kaioshinkai to affect him. If Gohan was to get any stronger during his stay he would need to have more weight added, he could even lift the Z-sword with one hand easily.

"Hey big guy, could you double the weight on me, I don't even feel it anymore." Gohan spoke, joking around with Kibito.

Kibito frowned at the youth before allowing a smile to grace his features.

"I just hope you will be able to handle it." Kibito spoke with a challenge; extending his hands he reconfigured the weight distributed around Gohan's body. However he did more than double the previous weight, he tripled it! While he increased the weight to his clothing he also added one more thing, a scabbard made out of solid katchin, the densest metal in the universe. He figured that it should be able to contain the weight of the Z-sword reasonably well. That brought the collective weight on Gohan to around one thousand tons; two hundred and seventy tons for the tunic, ninety tons per boot, the pants themselves weighed one hundred and thirty-five tons, and the scabbard itself weighed three hundred tons. And the Z-sword brought the total to one thousand three hundred and seventy tons, all in 500x Earth's gravity!

Unlike last time where he hadn't been expecting the cloths to be weighted, Gohan had powered up to his maximum from the start. But even at his level of power the clothes threatened to send him down deep through the Supreme Kai's planet. Gohan used the same method of increasing his power level that he did three months prior, during the fall from atop the spire. His muscles bulged out! Normally one would have to be transformed into a form of Super Saiyan to manipulate their body in such a way, but ever since he had accidentally discovered it was possible, Gohan had been able to do it in other ways as well. Gohan learned that by varying the concentration of ki in each muscle and his own general stockpile of it, he could increase strength, speed, ki power and manipulation, and even his own senses. And that is what he did now, ki flooded into each and every muscle, increasing his strength and power level immensely at the expense of stamina and speed.

Finally reaching a comfortable level, Gohan stopped powering up. His physical training almost complete, Gohan decided to work on making his techniques more efficient. First he would work on his own basic attacks then work his way up to advanced ones.

* * *

"Taiyoken!" The cry rang out along the plains of Kaioshinkai. The Taiyoken was a move developed by the Crane martial arts school, the rival of the Turtle school whom Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha belonged too. At first used only by Tien, the move quickly spread out along the group of members as the move was a useful diversionary tactic. Gohan had first seen its use on the planet Namek by Krillin, who used it to blind the pink Dodoria so that they could escape his wrath. In order to use it, first the user had to form a thin screen of ki in front of their face. Once formed, the user pulsed their ki through it, forcing the air molecules in between the pulse and screen to compress between the two and eventually break. The breakage released photons as the all the atoms decayed into Hydrogen, the lightest element. The photons then entered the screen and were amplified, sending a bright flash out beyond the persons face, which was unaffected as it was protected from the initial screen. Gohan had already improved his Masenko, Makankkosappo, and Kamehameha. The Taiyoken was the last attack on his list that he believed could be made improved from his repertoire.

Gohan was attempting to recreate the function, instead of having light amplified through the screen, he wondered if he could amplify his ki through it. However all he could do so far increase the energy on the light itself, causing a brighter flash of light and heat. Having it done this way normally wouldn't be a problem, but due to the interference from a warrior's aura, the heat would dissipate along it, never reaching the actual target. Unless Majin Buu didn't use an aura the move would be useless other than its original intent. Speaking of how Majin Buu fought, Gohan still knew nothing about this supposed menace. This information would be very useful should they fail to stop Babidi and he managed to fill the energy quota.

"Hey Supreme Kai; what exactly can this Majin Buu do?" Gohan questioned as the yelled over where the Kai's lay, relaxing in the grass. There was no response, just a faint snoring. Frowning, Gohan marched over to him to find the man sleeping, with drool hanging out of his mouth.

Once again Gohans anger flared, while he hadn't allowed himself to relax, and then he sees this Kai, who had taken him here was sleeping without a care in the world. Sending his ki coursing through the soil beneath him, Gohan searched deep in the rock strata. Finally he found what he was looking for, water. He could tell based on how it felt to his energy; a water molecule is polar, which means its electrons are not all shared between the atoms in its makeup. Because of this water can break apart and dissolve most compounds if they have an ionic bond. It also allowed it to partially conduct electricity, the electrons hitching a free ride on the molecule, as they mingled with the oxygen's free electrons. Distributing his ki into a couple cubic meters, Gohan channeled the water up through the ground until it collected less than a foot from the sleeping Kai. Gohan then placed his ki on the three sides around the water not facing directly upwards, and then applying pressure, he forced the water to move. The ground gave way in a raging torrent of water; the pressure sent it and the Kai above it flying several meters up into the air. Shin slammed back down to the ground, soaking wet and sputtering awake. His head whipped side to side trying to see who had sent him tumbling. Seeing Gohan, the tall teen standing stiffly in front of him with his arms crossed his face hard and devoid of emotion, he logically deduced that this was the individual who caused his accident.

"I have a question Supreme Kai, what exactly can Majin Buu do?" It was so unexpected that Shin stopped wringing the water out of his cloths.

"What?" The question just came up, his expression stupefied he stared up at Gohan.

If anything it made Gohan's eyes narrow even more, his power flared up even higher, he repeated himself.

"What can Majin Buu do? If I'm going to destroy him I think I should know his abilities. Don't you think?"

"Oh, that's what I thought you had said. Well the first thing you should know about Majin Buu is that he is immensely powerful, much stronger than the energy required to wake him up, as I'm sure you've realized based on your training here. Secondly he can also regenerate, his form of regeneration is so advanced that he can recover completely from being destroyed to only his molecules, and every single atom must be destroyed to stop him from regenerating. He can manipulate his body freely, tearing off chunks to wrap foes in and changing his own state of matter. His body is fat so physical attacks have little effect on him as all they do is make him bounce like a big pile of Jell-O. And lastly his two most dangerous techniques; he can turn matter into anything he wants with a beam of energy fired from the antenna on his head, and if his opponent proves to be too strong, he can absorb them, adding their strength and abilities to his own. He has done this twice, first was the South Supreme Kai, the strongest of us all who fought him to a standstill in his original form. And the last person he absorbed was my mentor, the Grand Supreme Kai whose position I have inherited. Each time he absorbed someone he also took on some of their physical and psychological traits. The Buu he became after absorbing my master is very childish in nature; he thinks everything is a game. But don't let that fool you, he is pure evil." By the time Shin had finished he was crying, the memories of his friend and master being to much for him. He himself witnessed the Grand Supreme Kai's absorption, after he had saved him from the huge muscular monster Buu became after the Southern Supreme Kai was incorporated into his physiology.

"That is why Gohan he is the most dangerous being to ever exist and he must be destroyed at all costs." He finished, his small frame bowed down with the weight of what he had seen and experienced.

Gohan looked down at him, now he finally understood why he was chosen and not Vegeta or his father. He too had also failed to stop someone and others close to him paid the price. With a new understanding of the universes overseer, Gohan powered up to his maximum, bypassing the first form of Super Saiyan and going straight to the second. His aura raging around him, the winds produced sent his hair straight up on end with one persistent lock hanging down. And as the entire planet shook from the boy's power he spoke, conviction in his voice.

"Majin Buu will die!"

* * *

Gohan(Base, before mastery of I.M.) 92,005,000

Gohan(Base, with mastery of I.M. and adjusted to weights) 98,209,000

Gohan(Base, with mastery of I.M. and no weights) 110,033,000

Gohan(Super Saiyan Two) 11,003,300,000

Piccolo: 2,451,000,000

Vegeta(Base) 74,481,000

Vegeta(Super Saiyan) 3,724,050,000

Vegeta(Super Saiyan Two) 7,448,100,000

Trunks(Base) 3,819,000

Trunks(Super Saiyan) 190,950,000

Before anybody says anything about the immense power increase Gohan has made take into account where he is and what he is doing. During his training in the Time Chamber he went from the weakest non baby saiyan to the strongest. On Kaioshinkai not only is he pushing himself immensely in the gravity and immense weights that are on him but every time he gets injured he gets a super Zenkai from the energy saturated environment. I'm not doing this because he is special, if it had been Vegeta or Goku doing the exact same training they would also be getting super strong ridiculously fast. Also the strain of learning the Instantaneous Movement brought a huge increase because of the Zenkai's he received every time he entered and reentered from Kaioshinkai. Trunks and Vegeta made them improvements based solely on Zenkai's. They each trained to exhaustion and came back stronger from it.


	6. Reunion

"Galic Gun fire!" The cry rang out through the grounds of Capsule Corp, a wave of purple ki shooting straight up into the air. Trunk's body shook from the effort needed to maintain his current level of power, his father and Piccolo watching him from a couple of meters away.

"He is wasting too much energy." Piccolo said to Vegeta, as blunt as he always was. Vegeta merely scowled at him, while he to had noticed the problem he didn't like it when others commented on any shortcomings he or his son had.

"Trunks stop!" Vegeta barked over to his son who immediately ceased pouring energy into his attack. The Galic Gun continued on into space where it soon dissipated as the heat was leached from it by the vacuum of space. However he remained at full strength, his father had made it clear early on in their training that just because he was told to stop what he was doing did not mean it was ok for him to relax. A warrior must always be vigilant and ready, Vegeta lived by this mantra and he soon got Trunks to accept it too.

"Do you know what you were doing wrong?" Vegeta questioned him, that was another habit of his father, if you did anything wrong he expected you to know what it was, and if you didn't you would be punished and asked again. So on and so forth it would go until you either collapsed from exhaustion or by some lucky break you figured it out. Trunks had never figured it out yet.

"No sir!" Once again a rule of his father, you did not address him as such, when you were training he and any other more experienced warrior was to be addressed as sir. Once Tien had shown up to request a gravity machine from Bulma and Trunks called him a weakling who shouldn't have even bothered, Vegeta had heard this and managed to get Tien to agree to fight Trunk's. Believing that he would win easily, Trunks had attacked Tien leaving himself wide open; Tien simply waited for Trunks to draw near before splitting into two bodies with Trunks passing in between the two as the split. The two clones then proceeded to beat the crap out of Trunks until finally having enough he transformed and sent a wave of ki out from his body causing the two Tiens to merge back together. Once again Trunks had charged and like before Tien stood still waiting, thinking his opponent would try the same trick Trunks had stopped in midair a couple of feet away, not seeing the smirk on Tiens face. With a shout of "Taiyoken," Tien had blinded Trunks, then phased behind him and clasping his hands together in a fist, smashed them into the back of Trunk's neck knocking him out instantly.

When he came to his father had picked him up by the back of his uniform and forced him to apologize to Tien with proper respect. It was one of the few times Vegeta had shown respect for the non-saiyan warriors of Earth and it shocked Tien who accepted the apology. When Tien left Vegeta then threw Trunk's into the gravity chamber and it turned it up to 325x gravity which promptly turned him into a pancake. Vegeta then watched Trunks and fired a ki blast at him any time he tried to transform, once Trunks had been able to stand Vegeta then increased the gravity. Under the new stress Trunks promptly passed out, the energy required to stand fleeing fast. He then woke up in his room the next day to the sound of the chamber humming and his father training, the walls shaking with each blast Vegeta fired.

That was all in the past however as Trunks now faced the combined scrutiny of his father and Piccolo over yet another mistake he had made. Piccolo as always betrayed no emotion on his face while his father, had a look of disappointment? No that couldn't be it; his father would never be disappointed in him. Unless he was a failure, it was true he kept messing up but he always eventually corrected it! The stress of all this training was finally getting to Trunks; he had never been forced to train like this, what he didn't know was that in his youth Gohan had done the exact same type of training. Only in his case he forced himself to go above and beyond his limits, the drive to help protect his friends and loved ones kept him going. Trunks had lived the life of luxury; he had never seen anybody die before Broly had shown up so he didn't know the meaning of hardship. Finally it all came tumbling down, first one tear then another. After those first two the dam broke, tears flooded out of him with snot pouring out of his nose.

"Trunks-" Before Vegeta could tell his son to stop crying he ascended, turning Super Saiyan in a flash and taking off into the early morning sky. However before he could get far he slammed into a figure, a very heavy figure. Looking up he gasped, it was Gohan, but not the Gohan he recognized. While since training with the Kais Gohan had gotten so used to the clothing they had given him that he had forgotten how foreign it was. He himself actually took a liking to the clothes, picturing himself to be a medieval knight to save the world. And boy did he look the part; his long unkempt hair had grown down to his middle back, spikes jutting out every which way. The Z-sword was secured in its scabbard on his back and his clothing had gone through an upgrade. Whereas before it had been the standard clothing worn by the Supreme Kai's, Kibito and Shin had thought it prudent to give Gohan a combat variant similar to the Saiyan Battle Armor only much more protective.

The tunic had been reinforced with interwoven Katchin that was strutted much like ancient Samurai armor; its color had also been changed to a dark midnight blue with the black Katchin showing through the horizontal bars. As the pants flared out like usual they had beads of Katchin imbedded within in a grid formation. His boots hadn't changed in appearance only being reinforced. All in all his appearance hadn't changed much; it was completely weight free other than what came from the necessary Katchin and Z-sword. The result was a very strong and flexible armor that even Gohan at his max would be hard pressed to damage. The thing that had changed most about him though was his power! Trunks powered up to his maximum as a Super Saiyan hadn't even made him budge. Power literally wafted off of him as he hung there suspended in midair.

His appearance made Trunks momentarily forget about running away as he stared in awe, he just looked so cool! By this time both Piccolo and Vegeta had joined them in the air, both amazed at the changes Gohan had went through. Not only had his power and clothing greatly changed, but so to did his demeanor. Gone was the happy go lucky teen who would sooner smile and laugh than get in a confrontation, instead here was a serious man. The trials Gohan had gone through showed, and they both had instantly realized that this was a man that stood before them.

"Gohan." The simple greeting was customary of Vegeta, the prince's expression not betraying any thought. His ki was an open book however; it churned with emotion. Amazement, jealousy, and even pride could be read if you looked hard enough. The prince was proud of Gohan, he had known the boy since he was a little child trying to stand up to the people who invaded his home, and now the boy was a warrior through and through. Vegeta already believed that Gohan had redeemed himself of his mistakes; the trial of working himself to this point must have been horrifying to experience. Before any more greetings could be shared their attention was drawn elsewhere as the rest of the fighters on the planet converged on their location having sensed the huge power that appeared. Upon arrival their serious faces turned to joy instead as they saw the son of Goku.

A collective cry of "Gohan!" was issued by Yamcha and Krillin, Tien only smiled in greeting. With everyone present Gohans face broke out into a smile as he saw his friends. Being around only two other people for six months really gets to you.

"It's good to see everyone, you have no idea how much I've missed you all." Gohan said, a small smile on his face as he did.

"Yeah man, its great to have you back. As strong as you are there is no way we can lose!" Yamcha spoke enthusiastically and with that he patted Gohan on the back.

The smile instantly vanished from Gohans face.

"No, even at my maximum it's still not enough. Supreme Kai measured my power and compared it to Buu's and I'm still not close enough. I don't possess nearly the amount of power he does. Our only option is to ensure that Babidi dies before he can get Majin Buu to full power." He said sadly his features soft.

The group was silent; their joyful reunion had ended before it could begin. It soon ended as the saiyan prince, curious to the exact gains Gohan had made in his training, spoke.

"Gohan, I want you to fight me." This request was out of character for Vegeta, normally he would just demand a spar but for him to ask, albeit in a subtle way, was very strange.

Gohan looked at him before shaking his head. What he said next both shocked Vegeta and enraged him.

"You wouldn't stand a chance." He said, and it just wasn't the fact he said it, it was the way he said it. Like he was stating a fact, no hint of bravado or cockiness; Gohan could've been stating what the weather was like for how sure he was.

With a feral roar Vegeta transformed and launched himself at Gohan, and as everyone else scattered from the maddened prince Gohan merely stood his ground. Drawing his right fist back, Vegeta jabbed it straight into Gohans chest which sent him flying in the opposite direction with a loud crack. The noise didn't come from Gohan however who merely stopped a couple hundred meters away and phased back with not a single scratch on him. The crack came from Vegeta's hand and Vegeta was just staring at it. A single punch and he broke his hand, looking at Gohan he saw that the hit didn't even injure the hybrid, the armor having absorbed the force of the blow entirely.

"Fine Vegeta, if you want to fight then I'll fight." And with that Gohans face turned serious and he ascended, what was odd was that there was no shockwave or aura. It looked as though Gohan simply turned his eyes and hair a different color. Everyone could tell he had an amazing amount of control over his energy; his power had increased so swiftly that they barely could detect the upswing. Just then and now was what they sensed. The transformation brought something to everyone's attention however, what they had thought was merely a belt around his waist had also changed color, Gohan had his tail back!

Before anybody could comment though, Gohan went on the attack. Blasting forward bringing his right knee as he did, Gohan slammed into Vegeta and carried him with him flying straight into the sky beyond the clouds at great speeds. Stopping suddenly, the forward momentum forcing Vegeta's body to continue flying upwards he charged energy to his right hand where it accumulated at frightening speed. Gohan then shot out medium sized balls of ki from what he had collected, each homing in on Vegeta. Before the first ball could connect however Vegeta phased out of the way. Gohan extended his left arm straight up into the air where it implanted itself into his stomach, breaking Vegeta's concentration causing the attack he had prepared to be sucked back into his body. Before Vegeta could recover Gohan then twisted and fired all of the energy in his right hand into the area where he left fist had left its mark on his stomach, the blast sent Vegeta flying straight up into the atmosphere.

Before he could break through into space though Gohan disappeared and reappeared behind him and axe kicked him straight back down. Traveling at super sonic speeds Vegeta came screaming in towards the ground where Trunks had been training just five minutes prior only to land outstretched on Gohans extended arm, shattering his spine completely, Vegeta's hair was back to black, being knocked into unconsciousness by the five attacks Gohan had landed. Everyone was stunned; nobody had even seen Gohan move. Piccolo had barely been able to see what happened and he never even saw Gohan travel the five miles from where he sent Vegeta back to Earth. The sheer brutality with which Gohan fought had also shocked them; Gohan had fought Vegeta like he wanted to kill him! Seeing his father just lying there on Gohan's arm made something snap in Trunks, having dropped out of Super Saiyan when everyone arrived he powered up again in an instant. Screaming he launched himself at Gohan who merely looked at him and sent a kiai out directly from his eyes. Upon impact with Trunk's chest it broke several of his ribs and cracked the rest of them. It sent him flying back into Piccolo who caught him and was propelled backwards through the air until he managed to stop himself a mile away.

Once stopped, he looked up from the boy he held and directly into Gohans eyes who seemed to have teleported directly there, Vegeta tucked under his left arm like a sack of produce. Reaching out with his free hand Gohan snatched Trunks from Piccolo and disappeared. Piccolo scanned the Earth and couldn't pick up a single trace of any of their ki, making his way over to where the rest of the Earths fighters were still staring at each other in shock Krillin summed up what everyone was thinking.

"What the fuck just happened?"

As they traveled through hyperspace Trunks screamed, thrashing in Gohans free hand. He just couldn't believe it, the man he looked up to as an older brother came in and tried to kill him and from the looks of it killed his father! Why would Gohan do any of this, Trunks tried to come up with a reason but could not seem to find any. All he could see was red and the blue of Gohans outfit, so it came to be quite a shock when he was dumped on the ground. Well not really dumped more like smashed as gravity grabbed him. Being a Super Saiyan had its advantages though and he was immediately back up on his feet to see the big red guy from six months ago bent over his father. Bringing his hands back to around his waist, palms facing each other with one on top and the other on the bottom and charged his attack; his anger fueling his power and it turned into the strongest one he has ever produced.

"Galic Gun!" He screamed out as he released it. It was absolutely huge; the beam was ten feet wide in diameter. Before it could reach Kibito it was slapped out of the way by a long furry gold appendage. Gohan had charged a little power into his tail and simply deflected it with a flick. Trunks screamed out again in anger, but before he could do anything more his father woke up. Screaming out Vegeta's body threatened to burst as he received the largest Zenkai he ever had in his life, each muscle bulged out and retracted, struggling to contain the power. With a final scream of pain it was done, Vegeta just lay there gasping for breath. Drawing his feet back Vegeta promptly planted his hands back behind his head and pushed off in one fluid motion, landing square on his feet without any problem. Like Gohan Vegeta's tail had also regenerated, but having had it in his life for so long Vegeta's body had adjusted instantly to the regrown appendage so he had none of the balance issues Gohan had.

Upon realizing his tail was back, Vegeta's face broke out into the most sincere smile Gohan or Trunks had ever seen him wear, only Bulma had seen a similar look and that was when he found out Trunks had been conceived. Vegeta jabbed at the air experimentally and let out a literal whoop of joy! It was incredible! The power increase he received from the boosted Zenkai and the added bonus of his tail was just too much for him. Now he understood why Gohan had done as much damage as he did, he knew what would happen if he was brought here to be healed. Vegeta wondered if the same bonus would apply to Trunks if he were to be healed. Turning towards his son he was surprised to see the boy once again crying. Trunks tackled his father sending the two to the ground.

"I thought you were dead!" Trunks said as he sobbed into his father's chest, not paying attention to the damage he himself had sustained. Vegeta merely smiled at his son and patted him on the back. Not one for displaying emotion Vegeta was reaching his limit, the discipline he had built up over the years was starting to take over once again after his initial burst of joy. And so, he coughed, getting his sons attention. Once he did he smiled once more and said.

"Go get healed, your blood is going to stain my uniform." And with a grin Trunks got up and walked over to Kibito, who was amazed at the young boy's resilience. Truly human-saiyan hybrids were incredible!

"Sir, may I be healed?" Trunks asked, he said sir not because of his father's rule, but because he remembered that this was a very important person who should be respected at all times.

Kibito merely nodded and extended his hands out, the waves only washed over Trunk's body for a couple seconds before he was done. However unlike Gohan or Vegeta, Trunks did not grow a tail. Tails being recessive in saiyan-human hybrids, only Gohan had been born with one, Goten and Trunks taking more after their human genes in their skeletal structure. While Trunk's boost wasn't nearly as significant as the ones his father and Gohan had received here on Kaioshinkai it was still impressive and definitely the largest he had ever received.

As soon as it was done Gohan interrupted, "I think its time to head back home before everyone really freaks out; I think our fight really scared everyone Vegeta." He said to both Vegeta and Trunks.

Vegeta nodded his agreement and stepped over to Gohan, Trunk's followed immediately, his anger towards Gohan disappeared once he realized it was all a plan to get them stronger. Once both were in range Gohan reached out and once contact was made teleported into hyperspace. Both now aware of their method of transportation, Trunks openly gawked while Vegeta merely stared, impressed with Gohan's apparent mastery over this technique. When in hyperspace something very interesting and shocking happened, a huge power level flared up in Otherworld, it quickly grew to surpass Vegeta and Gohans respective maximums and tapered off, slightly more than twice as strong as Gohan. Gohan immediately ceased their movement and stared off in the direction it was coming from. Being exposed to hyperspace meant that each and every one of them was more susceptible to high energy readings. Gohan redirected their trajectory and they soon found themselves at the Grand Kai's planet, Gohan instantly recognized the signature as what it was. It was Goku! Zooming in closer they saw why he was emitting so much power, he had discovered a new form of Super Saiyan. Having just transformed into the form for the first time, Goku was on his hands and knees, catching his breath.

Upon seeing his rival surpass him once again angered Vegeta beyond belief, while he was much stronger than Kakarot in his base form this new transformation of his easily tipped the scales into his favor.

"Well what do you know, there's another form of Super Saiyan beyond the second one. At least we now have something to work towards right Vegeta." Gohan stated simply, not bothered at all by his fathers discovery, he just didn't have the same attitude towards his father that Vegeta did. Seeing Vegeta still glaring at his father, his face twisted into an angry snarl, Gohan snapped at him like a parent would to a child.

"Oh knock it off Vegeta, you're still stronger than him in the first two forms and you know there is a third now. You're alive and he's dead so of course he can train non-stop without resting or eating. In fact I'm surprised he didn't discover it sooner considering how my father is with training." And with that Gohan brought them back to Earth.

Entering space in front of the assembled gang, Gohan took one look at their astounded and tense faces and said, "Don't worry, it was all part of my plan." Then he promptly vanished, heading home towards Mount Paozu.

Arriving in front of his home, Gohan hovered an inch off the ground and took the scabbard on his back off then opened the front door, the weight he was carrying would not be good for the flooring of the house. Hearing the clink of dishes in the kitchen, he entered the room to see his mother in front of the sink, washing. Before he could say anything she shuddered and broke down, sobbing. She threw the dish she had been washing at the ground and when it broke she sank to her knees and wept. The sight made Gohans heart clench and dug the knife further into it, his mothers crying form being etched into his mind as another consequence of his failure to defeat Broly. Floating over to his mother, he got down as low as he could and hugged her. Once he made contact she looked up and upon seeing her son she cried even harder and clutched at him, screaming. And so they lay there, both crying and seeking comfort in each others arms, mother to son, son to mother.

* * *

Gohan(Base) 125,478,000

Gohan(Super Saiyan) 6,273,900,000

Gohan(Super Saiyan Two) 12,547,800,000

Vegeta(Base, pre-Zenkai) 83,038,000

Vegeta(Super Saiyan, pre-Zenkai) 4,151,900,000

Vegeta(Base, post-Zenkai) 112,901,000

Vegeta(Super Saiyan, post-Zenkai) 5,645,050,000

Trunks(Base, pre-Zenkai) 5,245,319

Trunks(Super Saiyan, post-Zenkai) 262,265,950

Trunks(Base, post-Zenkai) 14,206,000

Tien: 18,809,000

Piccolo: 2,931,000,000

Goku(Super Saiyan Three) 29,896,000,000

Goku(Base) 74,740,000


	7. High School Drama

The next morning, Gohan woke up to hear the sound of food sizzling in pots and pans. Looking over he saw his brother's bed, still as messy as the day Goten last got out of it. Surprisingly it was dust free, meaning his mother had taken the time to clean it while still keeping it in the chaotic array it was in. It was just another nail to the coffin.

Yesterday when he got home, after his mother had fully recovered from her mental breakdown and seeing her son, she asked him if he were to go back to school. Just for one more day so he could say bye to his friends before Babidi's arrival. Getting up he walked over to his closet and opened the door. Grabbing the first thing he saw, it didn't matter it was all the same thing, he tried putting it on. But before it could get around his shoulders it ripped, the shirt had been bought according to his size from half a year ago, and while if he hadn't trained with the Kais it would probably still fit, but now there was no chance. He had been muscular and defined before but compared to the way he looked now he had looked absolutely scrawny! Grabbing the only things elastic enough to fit him, a sweatshirt and sweatpants, Gohan put it on; however the sleeves on the shirt were tight and actually constricting so Gohan tore them off and wrapped his tail around his waist.

Walking downstairs, he was greeted by the sight of his sunken mother, streaks of gray in her hair. The lively plump cheeks from years of sampling her own cooking were gone, the kimono she wore was stained and torn, and she was developing a slight hump, the weight she seemed to carry was slowly crushing her. It saddened Gohan to no end to see the happy powerful woman reduced to this; it had to end, in less than a month if Supreme Kai's estimate was accurate, Babidi would show up and Goten could be brought back. Wrapping his arms around the now petite woman, he gently hugged to which she responded with was to lean back in his arms before finishing her prep work. Turning around she gestured to the table, if there was anything wrong with her attire she didn't show it.

"Good morning Gohan, are you ready for school today?" Chi-Chi asked her voice raw from the lack of use other than crying.

Wincing, Gohan tried to reply as cheerfully as possible, "Yeah, it will be good to see Videl and my friends." An unspoken "one last time" was easily picked up by the still intuitive mother. But if it bothered her she didn't show or comment. She finished cooking, and setting out the portions, she preceded to hand Gohan his plate and ate her own. Gohan ate his meal in silence, finishing it within seconds and filling it again and again until he was sated, his mother didn't finish hers though; she had been eating less and less with each month that passed by. The sadness was sucking the life out of her.

"Mom, I don't have to go to school, I can stay here and help." Gohan said.

"No no no, you need to go see your friends. I'll be alright here for the day until it's over. Go have fun." Chi-Chi said, some of her old enthusiasm for schooling returning.

Gohan just smiled at his mother and walked out the front door. Once outside he jogged away from the house for several miles, it took only seconds but once he was far enough away that the backlash wouldn't harm his house he took off. Chi-Chi still felt the ground shake and heard the dishes clink together in the shelves from the force of her son's takeoff. She looked out the window and seeing the hole he punched through the cloud cover she sighed.

"Please be careful Gohan." and with that she turned away and put away the dishes, waiting for her son to come home. But she never saw the trail left by the person following Gohan as he went to school in Satan City.

* * *

On the outside of his aura the friction threatened to erupt him into a flying fireball from the speed he was traveling at, inside however all was calm as the aura kept winds out of his face. In the past he had actually used the time during the commute to school to catch up on some last minute homework, the conditions in his aura being perfect for midair cram sessions. Gohan was flying much slower that what he normally could do even in his base form, if he had flown at max speed if he wasn't careful when he stopped the forward momentum would transfer to the air and it could possibly destroy the city. This was true even six months ago before he undertook his rigorous training. And so the young man was left with time to think, he thought about seeing his friends, and he thought about seeing Videl. But he also thought about that in just little over a week from now he would be able to bring Goten back, until that happened he would never be able to move on and would eventually be destroyed by guilt.

The outskirts of Satan City were soon visible and so Gohan slowed to a stop, using his aura to absorb his momentum to keep the air stable. Gohan resumed flying at a much slower speed and was soon over the roof of his school. Once in position he landed on the flat platform, his long spiky hair waving in the winds produced by the tall skyscrapers, which produced a sort of wind tunnel affect that was always present. He walked down the staircase and into the main hallway; he was instantly barraged by the myriad smells that literally soaked the skin and clothing of the student body. Ever since his complete healing Gohan had gradually been able to notice new smells to the ones he was already familiar with. Smells just became richer; there was no other way to describe it.

He ignored the stares and stunned silence as he was noticed, these people held no power over him and it was his last day anyway. The only opinions he cared about would be coming from three people, his friends. There was Sharpener, at first Gohan had labeled him as a stereotypical jock but as more facets of his personality were unearthed Gohan was left with a much more complicated individual. The oldest of his siblings and man of the house, Sharpener was taxed with providing for his mother and sisters. His father had died when he was twelve and his mother had drowned herself in alcohol ever since, so he was left to pick up the pieces and take on both jobs as a parent and brother. He threw himself into a strict training regiment in order to hopefully get a fully paid boxing scholarship to a good college and make his living as a professional boxer. He had confessed to Gohan that once he did the first thing he would do would be to buy a better home for his family and take care of them. The motto he lived by was family means everything.

There was also Erasa, a young beautiful girl she appeared at first to be a ditz but was actually very intelligent. She hoped to one day be a doctor and save lives. Gohan had been very surprised to see her in his advanced biology class his first day of school. She was the exact opposite of Sharpener being an only child; she was utterly spoiled by her parents who were well off due to being employed at Capsule Corp, which happened to pay its employees very well even the janitors. While Capsule Corp could simply utilize their robots to do all the cleaning and housework Dr. Brief had a heart of gold and did his best to give more than living wages to all his workers.

And finally Videl, the daughter of Hercule Satan; while Gohan didn't mind the fact that Hercule had taken credit for the defeat of Cell, he was actually glad he did so he didn't have to worry about the press and paparazzi. About a month prior to Broly's return he had taught the crime fighter how to use her ki and fly and judging by her signal she had been practicing. Gohan actually had a small crush on her due to her fighting spirit. Gohan didn't know it but she actually acted the most like a saiyan than any other girl he had met and instinctively he appraised her as a potential partner. Saiyans were monogamous and will only take one partner during their lifetime; though while humans were similar Gohan did not have the same instinctive drive. While it meant that if he fell in love and it were to not work out in the end he would find it very difficult but possible to move on.

Sensing out their ki, Gohan found that they were already all grouped at the first class of the day which was close. Gohan had to go down two hallways and he found it, turns out the class had just started which is why everyone was there. Reaching the door he opened it, the entire class looked at the interruption and while it took them a while they all recognized him. Instantly there was mutterings of "That looks like Gohan!" and "What the hell happened to him?" from the students. Looking over to the row near the top he saw his friends; Sharpeners face was wide with amazement while Erasa's face turned red as she stared at the muscles that bulged out through the sweatshirt as if it were made out of spandex. Videl just looked at him in shock, and then she smiled and waved him over. Gohan nodded and walked up the steps, he had gotten up two rows when disaster struck. A bright flash lit up the back windows positioned by the ceiling and the wall disintegrated.

They stood no chance, by the time Gohan managed to react it had already reached them. Sharpener and Erasa were vaporized, for them it was peaceful; they felt no pain it happened so fast. Videl on the other hand wasn't so lucky, her training with her ki had heightened her reactions and so she managed to put up a meager shield. It wasn't enough. The beam shattered it and engulfed her, burning away her arms and part of her face before Gohans literal scream of pain diffused it. The wall of force that was emitted unconsciously, pulped the blast, which was actually very weak compared to the standards set by him and his friends, and spared the rest of the class. He was by her side in an instant, cradling her ravaged body. There was no blood; the wounds had been cauterized as they were made. The smell of burnt flesh was nauseating but Gohan paid it no heed, all he saw was his friend in front of him dying, and this time Gohan had been there the whole time and would've been able to stop it.

"No not again! Please not again!" Gohan repeated over and over as he cradled her burnt body. Videl started to convulse, her eyes staring wide at Gohans face pleading, her mouth had been sealed shut from the heat, the skin had liquefied and melted together. The tears that he seemed to be shedding to often were leaking out of his eyes and falling down onto her, where they evaporated as the heat boiled them away. Gohan could literally feel the life slipping out from her as her eyes started to grow dim and her struggles weakened in intensity. Suddenly out of the same hole that the attack originated from came another smaller one, it was merely the size of a finger but it did its job, piercing the heart of Videl, killing her instantly. Gohan never even got to say goodbye.

"So you're the one master Babidi has been worrying about. Ha! You're just a pathetic saiyan not fit to lick the bottom of my boots." Spoke a nasally voice, the owner to which was obscured by the smoke and debris from the wall.

Hearing the voice and the words it said, Gohans head immediately shot up. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. A growl resonated from deep in his chest and the tail secured around his waist uncoiled itself and bristled, swelling to twice its normal size. Gasps were echoed from the surviving classroom but Gohan didn't hear it, he was operating well beyond the realm of rational thought. Twice now it was Babidi's fault he lost someone, the first time indirectly and the second happened right in front of him. The rage and pain Gohan felt now had driven away all coherent thought leaving just pure saiyan instinct.

Finally the owner of the voice came into view; obviously it was an alien if it knew he was a saiyan. It had a long protruding cranium similar to what he remembered from Frieza's third form, it had spikes protruding in a downward curve from its back and what looked like a naturally occurring white armor encasing his entire body. And finally there was a large black cursive M branded onto the aliens forehead.

"But of course you would not have heard of me, the great Pui-Pui!" the alien gloated. "I possess enough power to make your entire race look like pond scum! I will now steal your energy and we will have en-" Pui-Pui never got to finish his sentence.

The interruption came courtesy of Gohans left fist smashing into his face and it knocked out most of his teeth. A feral look on his face, Gohan then proceeded to attack every square inch of Pui-Pui's body. Fists rained down on his arms, his stomach, and even the top of his elongated head. Finally Gohan kicked Pui-Pui away from the school and straight into and through a nearby skyscraper. Gohan hadn't put nearly enough power in his attacks to destroy him however, all he wanted to do was cause as much pain as possible. An explosion drew Gohan's attention, the skyscraper exploded in a huge cacophony of twisting metal and screaming people.

Pui-Pui came soaring right through the middle of the inferno and smashed a right kick onto Gohans neck. Not paying attention to the lack of reaction from his foe, he sent thousands of left jabs into Gohans abdominal muscles then brought his right hand forward and unleashed a fully charged ki blast at Gohans face. The blast connected and kept going leaving Pui-Pui to believe that he had blown Gohan's face off. When the attack dissipated it was quite clear though that Gohan was very much alive, not a single smudge or singe covered him. His clothing on the other hand was a different story, the punches Pui-Pui had hit his stomach with had pulverized his shirt and bits of the elastic material just fell off with the slightest movement.

"That's impossible!" he screamed, "No saiyan can have this amount of power!"

"Obviously I do, and I'm going to enjoy killing you." Gohan said, staring down at the livid alien, his voice deathly silent.

"That's it I've had enough of you!" And with that Pui-Pui charged in once more. Bringing his left leg up extended, he hoped to simply just use brute force to take down Gohan. As soon as he connected he felt a little give and thinking he had landed a successful blow he tried to retract his leg, but it was stuck. The give he had felt was Gohan's aura, which he had flared out at just the last second. Once it made contact with Pui-Pui's leg it ensnared it and drew it into Gohans body where a ring of ki extended out and clasped around his ankle. Pui-Pui pulled and pulled at his leg hoping to yank it free, he even resorted to try and fly away as fast as he could. All that resulted in was exhausting him and leaving him dangling by his leg in the cities skyline.

"I hope you're done now, because if you aren't then this is really going to hurt." Said Gohan; and with a smile on his face he started to rotate the ki-ring around the perimeter of his body. Pui-Pui started to spin in a circle around Gohan faster and faster, he tried to scream but was unable to draw breath due to the speed he was traveling at. It created a vacuum effect and sucked all the surrounding air into the spaces he had just inhabited, making it so there was no way for any air to enter his lungs. Then suddenly the ring instantly stopped, Pui-Pui didn't however. His momentum forced him to keep moving and it pulled him against the knee joint and with the built up force, snapped it! Half unconscious, the pain brought him fully back and he let out a blood curdling scream, somehow managing to draw air as he did so.

"I know your kind. You think that just because you are slightly more powerful than other people you feel you have the right to be in control. Well guess what, I've had it! You are going to pay and you are going to die!" With that said Gohan dissipated the ki-ring and before gravity could pull Pui-Pui down he blew him away from a kiai emanating from his whole body.

Flying a mile back, Pui-Pui managed to regain control and stop. Seeing that he was back by the school Gohan attended he got an idea. Charging his remaining energy into both hands, he let loose a volley of blasts towards the school and the surrounding areas, then he turn around and flew as fast as he could towards where his master had set up base.

Gohan's eyes narrowed as he saw the diversionary tactic Pui-Pui employed, not even bothering to move he sent out thousands of kiai's from his eyes, one for each of the blasts Pui-Pui unleashed. Once he made sure he had intercepted every attack, he warped to in front of the fleeing Pui-Pui. Seeing the look of sheer terror on Babidi's lackey brought a smile to Gohan's face, he was so scared he didn't do anything even when Gohan laid his left hand on his chest.

With a wordless scream, a kiai was sent out from the hand and directly into Pui-Pui. Gohan was deliberately avoiding ki blasts as he didn't want to risk killing Pui-Pui before he was done or blowing up any structures of Satan City. Again Pui-Pui was sent shooting towards a skyscraper but before he could reach it Gohan appeared behind him and thrusting out his right arm sent blasted another kiai at him. This repeating several times until it soon resembled a much larger version of pinball, it ended with Pui-Pui just slamming into Gohans chest.

At this point most of Pui-Pui's bones were broken and several major organs were ruptured, if he didn't get healed soon he would die. Before he could fall Gohan grabbed onto his right arm, not caring how hard he squeezed, causing a loud snap to fill the air. Raising Pui-Pui up to his eye level, Gohan bared his teeth at him and yelled at him.

"Where is Babidi hiding!" Pui-Pui just looked up at him and smiled, blood leaking from his mouth as he did so.

"You will never find him; my master has hidden his ship well. It could take you years to find it and by then it will be too late. Majin Buu will have returned and this whole planet will be turned to dust." He coughed out, his lungs being punctured in several places by his ribs.

Gohan merely smiled, "Thank you, that was all I needed, you just told me that he's on the planet and that is all I need to go from. I think I'll kill you now."

"This is for Sharpener!" Gohan then broke the rest of Pui-Pui's bones in a thundering volley of boxing jabs, each one being faster than Pui-Pui could even see. The pain was unbearable, he didn't pass out only because each strike hurt more than the last. Finishing off his combo with a devastating haymaker to the side of his head, cracking his grotesque skull, he then wrapped his tail around his neck and closed off his air supply.

"This is for Erasa!" Gohan grabbed Pui-Pui's lower jaw with his left and forced it open. Then he reached in with his right and proceeded to rip out any teeth still left with his mouth and when he was finished, tore out his tongue and blasted Pui-Pui's lips together. All he could do was unleash a wordless muffled scream as he did so, each scream being higher pitched as the windpipe was closed further and further by the constricting tail.

"And finally, this is for Videl, the one girl who showed me what it was like having a real friend my own age." Gohan reached forward and latched onto Pui-Pui's right shoulder, once secure he squeezed and he kept squeezing until his purple blood spewed forth from the ruptured vessels. When Gohan closed his hand entirely into a fist he pulled away from Pui-Pui's torso, ripping off the arm. Dropping it onto the street below he did the same thing to the remaining arm, once the deed was done he cauterized both of the wounds so his toy wouldn't bleed out before he was done.

Letting go of his victim, Gohan let him fall down to the ground, where the masses had accumulated and watched as the man destroyed the alien. They screamed when they saw the state Pui-Pui was in, what they saw next would make it seem like that was a scratch. Pui-Pui thudded onto the ground, weakly groaning and crying the entire time. Gohan landed right next to him and straddled the mutilated alien, once in position he dug his fingers into Pui-Pui's chest and worked his way in. Chitin yielded to his digits as he scratched and pulled, soon it was down to his skin then muscle. Muscle and skin ripped as Gohan tore and threw away chunks of flesh, constantly going further into Pui-Pui's chest cavity. Gohan was oblivious to the disgusted crowd of people that surrounded him, his attention focused only on the murdering scum in front of him. Reaching the ribcage, he removed each shard with surgical precision and broke what was still whole.

While Pui-Pui may not have been able to talk or scream; his weakening moans and the pain in his eyes spoke volumes about what he was feeling. With a cry of triumph, Gohan found what he had been looking for, the heart.

Leaning down next to his head, Gohan whispered quietly but still loud enough to be heard, "I see your heart. It turns out you do indeed have one, in fact I'm going to show it to you so you can see what you destroyed. Videl was ten times the man you are and yet you killed her. I hope you burn in hell and after this is over, I'm going to pay you a little visit down there just to see how many more times I can kill you."

Grasping onto the beating organ, Gohan quickly yanked it out from Pui-Pui's chest and true to his word, showed it to the dying alien before placing his two index fingers from his free hand under his chin. Quickly charging ki to the tips, he then blew out Pui-Pui's brain, killing the Majin servant. Standing up, his tail whipped through the air once before going limp and he finally broke down and wept out his sorrow heedless to his shocked and terrified audience.

* * *

Videl: 3,043

Sharpener: 7

Erasa: 1.2

Average Human: 3

Pui-Pui: 30,701,000

Gohan(Base): 125,478,000


	8. Majin Buu Unleashed

"In today's news there appears to have been a terrorist attack at Orange Star High School in Satan City, we bring you live to coverage there." The camera feed was then switched over to a sweating heavyset man.

"Well as you can see Diane, there is what looks like a giant hole in the side of the building. The damage is large and there has been a confirmed death toll of seventeen. Unfortunately we do not know who the majority of those individuals are as their bodies were vaporized. Now right after the explosion a nearby skyscraper suddenly exploded with everyone inside, there have also been reports of sonic booms throughout the city but there is no sign of their source. Wait, hold on, I see something high in the sky. Hugo zoom in up there. Closer, closer, got it!" Jacks face got wide, his face fearful. "Oh my god! Those are aliens! Both appear to be humanoid but one is wearing what looks to be clothing and has a tail. The other one is covered in spikes and it looks like a white exoskeleton is covering his body. The tailed one is currently mutilating the white one and is screaming at him."

Jack then screamed and was interrupted as the right arm of the alien landed right in front of them; the camera zoomed in close at the dismembered limb covered in purple blood. It was followed by another one and shortly, the entire body. Jack and Hugo looked on in stunned silence, filming the entire time as the tailed alien then straddled the fallen one and proceeded to rip out the contents of his chest cavity.

* * *

Bulma gasped and started to cry as she recognized Gohan, she could not think of why Gohan would display such brutality and sadism. It was when Gohan whispered into Pui-Pui's ear than she understood, and so to did the world.

"I see your heart. It turns out you do indeed have one, in fact I'm going to show it to you so you can see what you destroyed. Videl was ten times the man you are and yet you killed her. I hope you burn in hell and after this is over, I'm going to pay you a little visit down there just to see how many more times I can kill you."

Trunks wandered into the living room with a soda in his hands. Taking a swig he noticed his mom crying and thought she was watching a romance or something girly like that. It was when he heard the moans and sound of flesh tearing did he look at the TV and see Gohan.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed and his mother must have agreed because she did not chastise him on his language. Vegeta had felt his wife's ki fluctuate and assumed just as Trunk's did that since she was in the living room that she was watching something stupid, when Trunk's ki went crazy as well was when he realized something was wrong. Shutting his book, he left the library and made his way towards the living room he scanned the house in case it was an intrusion that was upsetting his family, finding no foreign ki he shrugged and continued walking. He heard it long before he saw it, the sound of masculine sobbing on the TV. If it wasn't for the fact he recognized the voice he would have gone back and read his story.

Vegeta practically rushed into the room and stared at the TV, what he saw was enough to make him incredibly nervous. Gohan sobbing over a body that was obviously not human, the blood covering Gohans arms was a clear indication that it was he that killed the creature. He took in the sight of his shocked and scared family and asked, "What the hell happened?"

Not turning away from the television, Bulma replied, "Videl is dead, this alien killed Gohans friends in school today right in front of him."

"Shit, shit, shit." Nobody had heard Vegeta sound so scared before, and this made both Bulma and Trunks turn and look at him.

"Gohan is at the end of his rope, the only thing that allowed him to keep his sanity when Goten died was the knowledge he could be brought back. Now with the rest of his friends gone even that might not be enough to pull him back." Running out the front door he launched himself up into the air and rapidly raised and dropped his ki several times. After the androids first invasion everyone thought it would be wise to devise a warning system to contact everyone should something happen. The rapid drop and increase of someone's power level would instantly gain everyone's attention and act as a beacon. Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan, his aura bursting to life he flew as fast as he could towards Satan City.

Reaching it within seconds, what he saw made his terror increase even higher if it was possible. The shaking shoulders, the bristled limp tail, the small almost nonexistent fluctuations in his ki, it was all the mark of a saiyan gone feral or about to. Vegeta prayed that Gohan hadn't snapped because if he did then the Earth might not survive to see the next day. As a precaution he collected ki to his finger tips and landed near Gohan, reaching out with his free hand he grabbed onto his shoulder. The muscles immediately tensed then relaxed, realizing that Gohan was still in control and recognized him, Vegeta then rearranged the gathered ki and spread it out along his hand. Reaching the right amount of strength to knock him out but not kill him, he struck the back of Gohan's neck. Gohan toppled instantly face first onto the concrete; Vegeta then threw him over his shoulder and ascended into the air. Turning he saw the approaching aura of Piccolo, who being the next strongest was the first to arrive.

As Piccolo got closer he quickly noticed the structural damage to the city and the residual energy of both Gohan and the alien who he had fought with. He deduced upon seeing the school that some of Gohan's friends were killed and that it drove Gohan into a rage. Stopping right before Vegeta he saw that Gohan was unconscious and asked, "Did you knock him out Vegeta?"

Nodding Vegeta said, "He has lost too many people close to him lately, I fear if anything more happens he will go insane. Any loss is devastating to a saiyan especially if they were special like family or comrades. There have been a few who went crazy if they were the only survivor from a failed mission."

Piccolo realized the severity of the situation they were in, only Vegeta came close to Gohan in power and he was severely outmatched if Gohan wanted to fight seriously. Not for the first time he was disappointed in himself, it seems if you weren't a saiyan you got left behind.

"We should take him home to his mother, if she saw the news she will be worried." Said Piccolo, and with that he turned towards where his former pupil lived and blasted off, going out of sight within seconds over the horizon.

Vegeta looked down at the corpse of the creature Gohan had killed, its blood and flesh scattered all around it. Vegeta smiled at the stupidity Babidi showed for sending such a weakling to try and kill Gohan. While Vegeta might not have heard for certain that Babidi had sent him, it was fairly obvious it was him seeing how nobody else knew about Gohan's insane power. Tracking Piccolo's energy signature, Vegeta soon followed, and being Super Saiyan caught up fairly quickly. They flew together in silence for the short time they were in the air, the landscape changing from paved road to country then rolling hills, finally they reached the mountains where Goku had lived his entire life and brought his family there with him. Mount Paozu was fairly large; it in fact belonged to one of the most expansive mountain ranges on the planet.

* * *

They landed in the clearing near Goku's house; even though the saiyan was dead it was still referred to as his. Vegeta carried Gohan over to the door and Piccolo opened it for him, upon seeing her son unconscious Chi-Chi gasped and ran towards them glaring at the two. Seeing that he was relatively unharmed except for his clothing, she gave them one last glare before saying.

"Put him on the couch, the living room is large enough for everyone." Vegeta and Piccolo followed Chi-Chi and Vegeta gently put Gohan down, any excessive jostling and he could wakeup and attack reflexively. Vegeta sat on the arm while Piccolo chose to stand, Chi-Chi sitting in the chair opposite waiting. Realizing he had no real explanation for what happened, Vegeta turned to Piccolo.

"Namek, go and get Bulma, she can explain what happened better than I can."

"There is no need for that. We saw the whole thing." And as what happened last time a relatively unknown voice interrupted Vegeta reacted defensively by forming a stance in front of the most vulnerable person, Chi-Chi, Piccolo merely glanced over at them. There was not much that could harm him and he knew that even though Vegeta may not like Chi-Chi, she was part of an extended familial group and thus it was instinctive to protect her.

Seeing the problem he created, Shin bowed to Chi-Chi and said, "I am sorry for intruding your home but it seemed to be a good idea at the time."

"Humph, teleporters." And with that Vegeta returned to his spot on the arm of the couch, Chi-Chi blushed however with the respect she was given by the very overseer of the universe.

"It's not a problem, but thank you for the apology. Usually people just barge in uninvited." This was said with a glare aimed at Vegeta and Piccolo who ignored it, though Piccolo had the decency to avert his eyes.

"Would you mind telling us what exactly happened Supreme Kai?" Piccolo brought them all back to the current subject at hand while being as respectful as possible.

"You're right, as I was saying we saw the whole thing. We detected Babidi entering Earth's atmosphere and were about to come warn everyone when Pui-Pui ejected from it and made his way over to Gohan's location. He suppressed his power until he was outside the school. He blasted it which killed several people including all of Gohan's friends. This drove Gohan into a frenzy where he then proceeded to toy around with Pui-Pui as revenge for killing everyone. Collateral damage was mostly avoided except for one skyscraper and Gohan managed to learn that Babidi was on the planet. Gohan then killed Pui-Pui and the rest is known to you." Obviously Shin was censoring much of what Gohan did out of respect to Chi-Chi. He was sure that she would not want to hear such gruesome details.

Chi-Chi looked at Gohan in sorrow; her child was surrounded by death everywhere he went. What was the point of being a mother if she couldn't protect and shield him from the horrors of evil? She slumped down further into her chair, when would it end?

"What I want to know is why they would send someone so weak after Gohan, if Babidi remembered that he is a threat you'd think he would send his strongest," said Vegeta from his spot on the couch, "does Babidi not research who he is up against?"

"I don't know why he would send someone like Pui-Pui against Gohan, while Pui-Pui is one of the strongest fighters from his part of the universe he pales in comparison to any serious fighter here." Said Shin, but what happened next would answer every body's questions.

A very large power level flared up, almost as strong as what Cell's had been, before it plummeted to barely sensible levels. Then the ground started to shake, earthquakes started all across the planet and storms raged. It was worse than what had happened when Gohan powered up against Broly. A look of absolute terror appeared on Shin and Kibito's faces as they realized the one thing that it could possibly mean. Majin Buu had been activated.

"That can't be good." Everyone's attention was drawn to Gohan who having just woken up commented about the weather effects. "I'm guessing that that's Majin Buu?" he said as he turned towards Shin.

Shin and Kibito grimly nodded and the young warrior sighed. "Well at least this means that we can bring back everyone when this is over. Goten's energy would have had to have been used, and we don't have enough wishes to bring him back separately along with my friends. We have to do it all at once since Buu will probably kill a lot of people."

Chi-Chi was stunned at how Gohan seemed to instantly take charge and come up with a plan, even though she could feel the affects of Buu's awakening, she couldn't help but be glad, at least her baby could be brought back when it was over and they could be a family again. Her son was all grown up and she had to accept it, and even though it didn't turn out as she had planned when he was a baby, she was proud of him.

"If you excuse me I'm going to go get dressed now." And snapping Chi-Chi out of her thoughts Gohan got up and made his way outside. He had stored his armor and the Z-sword out by his namesake's old house, their weight would have made it impossible to store inside the one their home.

He was back in an instant, being so fast definitely had its advantages. The sword and sheath clasped over his back and shoulders, the Kai armor fit securely around his frame. Facing everyone he spoke, "I think everyone should stay at the Lookout, it's warded against magic and unfriendly ki sensing. If his skills are bad enough Buu won't notice everybody hiding out up there, Piccolo you should go there now. Vegeta and I will round up everyone and see if we can surprise Buu and Babidi."

Surprisingly Vegeta yielded to Gohan on this matter, he knew that Gohan knew more about the situation than he himself did. This was also Gohans battle; he had lost too many loved ones to Babidi to not have the honor of killing him. "I'm going to go get my family and then meet me at Capsule Corp. alright Gohan, don't be late."

"Don't worry, I won't be." Vegeta nodded and took off.

"Well mother it looks like we should go. All I have to do is kill Buu and the world will be saved. Then everyone can be brought back." Gohan said this as he levitated over to his mother. Reaching out towards her, she bit her lip and nodded, and he as soon as he made contact they were off, racing through hyperspace towards the Lookout. Once there he set her down and flared his ki several times, gathering the attention of the alert and shocked Z-fighters. Gohan wanted to make sure everyone was there before he left to meet with Vegeta. Sure Vegeta would soon arrive with Bulma and Trunks, but he was going to leave as soon as that was done. Knowing him he would use the spare time to change into his armor, he would need all the extra protection against Buu.

The first to arrive was Krillin's family, little Marron was riding on Krillin's back with 18 slightly behind them incase anything were to go wrong. Roshi said he would follow with Oolong when he was able to on his flying turtle. Next was Tien and Chiaotzu soon followed by Yamcha and Puar. Vegeta took the longest but that was understandable considering he had to carry Bulma who would want to make sure she had absolutely everything she thought she would need. After dropping off his family Vegeta left and headed back to his home, of course after Bulma hugged him which he reluctantly returned.

Realizing that his grandfather was the only one missing from the group Gohan warped over to his palace, which had been rebuilt after his parent's wedding, seeing that his grandfather wasn't busy, Gohan grabbed him and warped back to the Lookout. Upon seeing that everyone was gathered there he guessed that the worst had happened. His fears were confirmed when his daughter came and told him what was going on.

"How did Babidi get enough energy to revive Buu?" Ox-King asked his grandson, age was making him tired of these situations.

"We believe he sacrificed some of his fighters to fill Buu up to full, the one we sensed was very powerful though, almost as strong as Cell was."

Ox-King's eyes widened at that unveiling and he sighed. Lumbering over to Chi-Chi he dropped down to the ground. He looked at Gohan, gave him a thumb's up and said,

"Just be careful Gohan." Gohan nodded, and after waving to everyone on the platform warped to Vegeta's location. Vegeta was tugging on his chest armor on when Gohan arrived, once ready instead of exiting the building he went down into the basement storage. Gohan followed him and after traveling down several hallways his curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "Where are we going Vegeta? Shouldn't we be going to fight Majin Buu?"

"I'm just getting something as a precaution." The short answer was all he was going to get out of the saiyan prince. Rolling his eyes, Gohan had no choice but to follow. They passed through three rooms, one of which was filled with broken machinery. Gohan was amazed to see a 'failed' prototype of an alien detector. Bulma had made it in her youth and after the readings would go crazy around Goku she scrapped it, not knowing that it had actually been accurate the whole time. Reaching a large solid door with a palm scanner, Vegeta placed his hand on the scanner and after a positive ping noise, opened the door. There was only one thing occupying the room, a capsule.

"What could this possibly have to do with Buu Vegeta?" Gohan said after seeing it, he thought the entire trip was a waste of time upon learning that it was only a capsule.

"This is the time machine that Cell had traveled here in. After he was destroyed Bulma tinkered with it and managed to refill it. There is only enough fuel for two trips though. I figure that if we fail then one of us can go back in time and make try to correct it. Partial survival is better than none after all. You should hold on to it just incase, you're the strongest of us so if it came down to it you would have the best success rate."

Not sure of what to say, Gohan nevertheless accepted the small capsule. Knowing that if they fought Buu there was a chance it could be damaged so he warped into hyperspace and placed it at his home. Even if the Earth were destroyed it would remain intact suspended in hyperspace and he could retrieve it easily. Once done he looked at Vegeta's face, knowing that the grim look mirrored his own he said, "Well lets get this over with."

Turning around he retraced his steps and exited the building, Vegeta trailing behind him. Both knew there was a slim chance of them succeeding here this day, but they had to try. They would not be considered worthy of being warriors if they did not at least try to defend their home. Once outside they both powered up to their maximums, each causing a small localized earthquake that collapsed much of the already weakened surrounding area. Once done they took off, not caring about protecting the environment and so it caused a very large crater to form where they had stood.

* * *

They weren't flying for long before they saw Buu's handiwork; up over the horizon a huge amount of energy was released. Almost immediately they saw the large explosion that marked the end of North City. Gohan felt all those millions of lives being snuffed out as they were all instantly killed. As it always did whenever he witnessed people dying his power rose, it kept rising and soon he was almost double at what he started out at. Every single event where he lost people kept replaying in his mind, starting with the day his father and uncle died to just today when all of his friends at school were killed. He just kept working himself up and his power rose and rose.

Finally spotting what could only be Majin Buu they stopped. The fat pink creature was clapping his hands in delight at the fires of the now ruined city. A small wrinkled insect like creature was levitating next to him, the evil wizard known as Babidi was in full control of the childlike creature.

"Disgusting, all that power and he acts like a child." Said Vegeta, his face contorted into a sneer. Gazing at Buu he knew that they were doomed, he was leagues above them in terms of power. And from what Gohan had told him a sneak attack wouldn't work because it seems that Buu's regeneration was even better than what Cell had possessed.

"So you're the one who I have to thank for allowing Buu to become complete. How does it feel knowing that because of you everything in the universe is going to die ahahahahahaha!" Babidi's insane laughter filled the air as the small man gloated.

Gohan's eyes narrowed and he phased towards him faster than Vegeta could see, but Buu could. Buu reacted instantly, spinning around and clasping his hand down on thin air. A second later Gohan appeared, struggling to break his hand free of the fiends grip, an inch away from Babidi's face.

Ignoring the scream from the wizard, Buu said, "You no hurt master Babidi, Buu hurt you!"

Lifting Gohan up in the air, Buu brought his free hand back and closed it into a fist, taking all the time in the world. Before he could strike the struggling Gohan he was thwarted however by Vegeta, who was in his Super Saiyan Two state, phasing right by his shoulder and with a cry of "Final Flash", blasted Buu away. Gohan dropped down to the ground and quickly threw away Buu's dismembered hand and lower arm. He promptly transformed into Super Saiyan Two and faced Babidi, who seeing the murderous look on Gohans face shouted out, "Barrier!"

Gohan merely walked forward and grabbed it with one hand, his fingers digging into the magic like it was a balloon; finding purchase, but not popping it. He raised the terrified wizard up to eye level and said, "You are going to die Babidi, and you are going to know that it was all preventable."

Gohan squeezed the bubble and it wasn't long before cracks appeared in the material but before he could destroy it Buu arrived.

"Pow pow pow." He repeated over and over, pumping each fist into the air. "Buu make you all dead!"

Buu then launched himself at Gohan and Vegeta; Gohan threw away Babidi away and prepared himself while Vegeta merely extended his right hand with the pointer and middle fingers extended. Firing a large blast it impacted and went right through Buu's stomach, the force making him flip head over heels as it did so. Buu sat up and with a 'pop' the hole refilled itself and looked good as new.

"That tickled." He giggled.

"Well I've got more where that came from you ugly piece of shit." Said Vegeta getting into his stance.

Buu stopped, turning towards his master Babidi he asked, "What's oogly mean?"

"It means that your face scares small children, now kill them!" he screamed out at Buu.

Buu's face contorted into a frown and steam vented out from the holes on the top of his head and along his arms.

"Buu no oogly, you oogly! Buu kill you now!" and he brought his hand forward eerily reminiscent of what Vegeta just did, and fired a pink beam of ki.

It went straight for him, but he was prepared. Charging ki into his left forearm, Vegeta smacked the blast away from him at the same time Gohan drew his sword and charged Buu.

As he ran towards the pink demon he cried out, "Taiyoken!" and a bright flash emanated from his running form. Gohan had perfected the technique to the point he didn't even need to use his hands to form the screen. He could form it around any part of his body while doing anything and still be able to use it effectively. With Buu blinded he jumped straight up into the air and came down slashing at Buu; he cut right through Buu's flesh like it wasn't even there. Buu screamed as his flesh bubbled and sizzled where the Z-sword had touched it; Gohan however continued the motion and moved out of the way.

A cry of "Galick Gun" was heard and a purple beam of ki entered the space Gohan had just inhabited and hit Buu head on. This time however it did not pass through Buu but carried him with it. Buu was sent soaring through the air for miles before, with a scream; he dispelled the saiyan prince's attack. Breathing heavily Buu struggled to close the wound he sustained from the Z-sword. Finally the flesh molded back into its original liquid-like look and sealed itself. Buu may have been naïve but he wasn't exactly stupid. He knew as soon as the sword touched him that it really hurt and he didn't want to feel that again. The time for thinking was done however as Gohan warped behind him.

Bringing his cupped hands together, each filled with a swirling mass of blue ki. He merged them together in front of him, causing the ki to emit jagged bits of lightning as they did so. With a cry of "Kamehameha" Gohan unleashed the attack on Buu and he screamed as it hit. The Kamehameha burning his flesh, it carried him up into and through the atmosphere into space. Because Gohan combined the two spheres they actually condensed which caused the energy to be much more concentrated and pure than if he had launched each one individually. Because Gohan's power was so high due to his anger, it actually disintegrated most of Buu's body as he was carried out of the solar system.

Gohan did not relent in the pouring of ki into the attack until he couldn't feel Buu's energy signature anymore. Turning back towards Babidi, he phased right back in front of him. The wizard was in tears, his beloved creation had just been apparently destroyed by these two saiyans, and without Buu to protect him he had no chance of survival. Seeing Gohan raise his hand up to the shield, energy coalescing into it, he acted.

Shouting "Parapapa!" The evil sorcerer vanished into thin air.

"God damn it you little fucker!" Gohan screamed as his prey escaped. Doing a quick scan of the Earth and finding no trace of him he stomped his foot into the ground causing a crater to form and reverted back to his base, Vegeta doing the same. With Buu seemingly destroyed there was no reason to stay powered up and so the two made contact with each other and warped to the Lookout. Each thought that the threat was over, but such was not the case, for Buu's body was not completely destroyed. And Babidi was still at large somewhere in the universe.

* * *

Gohan:(Base) 125,478,000

Gohan:(Base, Angered) 312,351,000

Gohan:(Super Saiyan Two, Angered) 31,235,100,000

Vegeta:(Base) 112,901,000

Vegeta:(Super Saiyan Two) 11,290,100,000

Majin Buu: 177,492,134,800

Babidi: 1

I came up with Buu's power level using the 89% from Broly's and Goten's combined energies then I calculated what 100% would be and that was 8.8 billion. Then I multiplied that by 20 to get Buu's current power. As you know Buu isn't particularly resistant to attacks, you can blow hole's in him all day it just won't hurt him. So Gohan and Vegeta being able to do the damage they did is fairly reasonable to me.


	9. Namek's Demise

I must thank one of my reviewers actually for the idea which you will read. I was in a stump on how to get Buu to a certain point and it was what he said in his review that became a convenient plot device. So I thank you SS3 Kyuubi Gohan for your wonderful idea.

* * *

Blobs of pink flesh continued to move forward in outer space, the momentum from the beam of energy that had disintegrated most of the body had transferred to the remaining entities keeping them moving at a constant velocity. Having already traveled several hundred light years, if nothing impeded their course, then the remnants of Majin Buu would reach planet New Namek within a time frame of two days.

"Arise Shenron, grant me my wish!" Gohan shouted up into the sky as the seven orbs in front of him pulsed and emitted a column of light directly into the sky above the Lookout.

The eternal dragon Shenron solidified into view and as he did the deep voice echoed across the tiles of the Lookout.

"You who have summoned me, speak and I shall grant you one wish." Normally Shenron would grant two wishes but because they had used one of the wishes half a year ago he could only grant one.

"I wish to bring back all those who have died without evil in their hearts from to life from now till seven months ago." Gohan's awkwardly worded wish was necessary, Goten had to be brought back and so too did his friends who had died earlier in the day. But Gohan didn't want to bring back Broly or any of Babidi's minions as well so that requisite had to be encoded into the wish.

"Your wish has been, granted." Shenrons eyes glowed red and immediately Gohan could feel energy signatures pop up all over the planet; one was much larger than the rest though.

"Goten!" And with that Gohan warped to his little brother's location.

Goten stood staring around him in shock, the last thing he remembered was closing his eyes as his brother held him. When Gohan appeared in front of him however he forgot all about it.

"Cool!" shouted Goten as he saw his brother, to him it looked even better than the Great Saiyaman costume Gohan used to wear to protect his identity and the city. He was confused however when upon seeing him Gohan started crying and lunged forward to pull him in an embrace.

"Um, Gohan what's wrong? He asked as his brother held him.

"I'm so sorry Goten; I wasn't able to save you. Can you ever forgive me?" Gohan said as he cried into Goten's chest.

Goten didn't know what to do, he had no idea why his brother was crying. It was only when he noticed that Gohan's hair was really long like it would when Gohan didn't cut it in a really long time that he made the connection.

"I died didn't I Gohan?" Goten said in a quiet voice.

His question was answered by Gohan tightening his grip on him and sobbing louder. Goten merely sighed.

"Brother, I'm here now aren't I? That's what's important like you always said, better to live in the present than live in the past."

Gohan opened his eyes and looked down at his brother, when did he start to sound wise beyond his years? The moment was shattered however when a loud growl was heard emanating from Goten's stomach.

"I'm hungry when can we eat?" Goten said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Gohan smiled, this was more like the Goten he remembered.

"Come on squirt, let's go home." And with that, the brothers vanished from the scarred landscape, hopefully never to return.

* * *

Gohan sat in the middle of the forest around his house, on a tree stump. He was examining the Z-sword, ever since the fight with Buu two days ago it seemed lighter some how. As an experiment he injected some of his ki into the blade similar to what he had done when he was first testing it upon the spire on Kaioshinkai. This time when he did so he managed to actually feel a small give in the swords inner ki blockage. Hearing a rustle in the bushes behind him, he stored the new information in the back of his mind and put the sword down. As soon as he had done so a golden blur launched itself at him from behind. Gohan smirked and flared his aura into life, as he did so he rotated it at high speeds. When the gold entity struck it, it got caught in the aura like a stick in a whirlpool and was carried along with it. Gohan laughed as the shape revealed itself to be Goten, who was struggling in vain to free himself from Gohan's improvised trap. When Goten was a foot away, Gohan reached out and snatched him!

Seeing how green his brother's face looked as he softly moaned from the constant spinning he was subjected to, Gohan couldn't help but laugh at his brother. Setting him down he laughed even harder as Goten staggered around drunkenly trying to reclaim his lost balance, finally losing the fight with gravity he pitched over backwards onto the soft loamy soil of the inner forest. Seeing how Goten wouldn't be moving anytime soon, Gohan reached down and plucked him off the ground. Reaching down with his tail Gohan wrapped it around Gotens waist and held him suspended off the ground. Picking up his sword and placing it in its sheath, he walked back home, Goten struggling not to throw up the entire time.

Gohan walked without a care in the world, his brother was back and his family was whole again. Life was good for the hybrid. Ever since he had brought everyone back to life Gohan's personality had reverted back to what it had been previously. But just because they got lucky this time it did not mean he would stop training. Gohan never wanted what happened to Goten to ever happen again to any of his loved ones.

"Feeling better yet squirt?" Gohan said as he laughed.

"No, the ground keeps switching with the sky. Why did you have to spin me like that?" said Goten as he tried to keep his breakfast down.

"It was fun, serves you right for sneaking up on me."

The two brothers continued bickering as they walked home. Goten being back had done wonders for their mother. She would hum as she cooked and she ate with much more gusto at the table. While some mothers would clamp down and be even more protective if something similar had happened, Chi-Chi in fact did the opposite, she laughed more and was more lenient on the way her sons acted. She now lived life to the fullest with her family; the lesson that life is to short had finally been driven home in the housewife.

When Gohan opened the front door they immediately noticed the enticing aroma that emanated from their mothers cooking. Chi-Chi had made a large variety of dishes; it was her way of showing love to her family. Some families were brought together by sports, others by academia, hers was brought together by food. Peace and tranquility filled the air as the family rejoiced. But like all good things, it would soon be brought to an end.

* * *

Planet New Namek, it was a contradiction of how a terrestrial life-bearing planet was supposed to look like. Its skies were green, its waters and plant-life blue. There was agiant scar on the planets surface however, an ugly reminder of what once inhabited that location. Years ago when the Namekians first colonized the planet as their own, they were besieged by a metallic bio-computer called the Big Gete Star. It's only objective was to consume resources and expand. It was controlled by the sun-blasted remains of the Aisu Cooler, who used the Gete Star's capabilities to create an army of warriors. It was seemingly destroyed by Goku and Vegeta from the inside out shortly after it's arrival on the planet. What they didn't know was that a small data chip survived, orbiting the planet covered with a small chunk of Cooler's organic flesh.

As the remains of Buu traveled through space they entered the gravitational field of planet New Namek. Eventually the Gete Star chip and Buu came into contact, and due to the biological component on the chip it was assimilated into Buu's being. Using Cooler's tissue as a base, Buu immediately began to regenerate. The process itself took a long time due to the severity of the injuries sustained but within an hour it was done.

Buu stared at his hands, while his appearance hadn't changed in the slightest, the same could not be said for his mental capabilities. All of Cooler's memories were stored in that chip including the individual data of the Z-fighters and his own abilities. With just one absorbtion, Buu became one of the most intelligent beings in this region of the universe. But with intelligence also came self consciousness. Whereas before Buu had always mindlessly followed orders with a slight understanding of what he was doing and who was in charge. Now though, he was able to think for himself. However Cooler's memories did influence him, before he was perfectly content with destroying everything; but now, now he wanted to rule. And with his power he would be unstoppable and he would rule forever.

There was the one matter of his 'brother' though. Buu had always known that Bibidi was the one who created him and therefore was one of the few beings who he would tolerate in his beginning form. Babidi on the other hand though, was a different story. Buu did not know much about Babidi, he hadn't even known he had existed until his resurrection. So he didn't know if Babidi would boss him around with no regard for his personal wants, if that was the case then he would have to be destroyed. If Babidi was not like that though, then Buu would keep him around, out of respect for their shared 'father'. As he was thinking of Babidi, the same individual had been scanning the universe for days hoping to find a trace of Buu's magical signature.

Still in his bubble, Babidi shouted with joy upon locating Majin Buu. With a "Parapapa" he warped directly to Buu's location where he was stunned to see Buu acting different. Normally Buu acted like a child, if he were still acting like one he would be gazing down at the planet or looking at the stars. But this Buu had taken notice of him immediately and, if Babidi didn't know any better, was evaluating him.

"Hello Babidi, so nice of you to join me."

Babidi knew something had changed, Buu had never been this intelligent, not even in his original form. This Buu was cold and calculating, his entire body posture screamed arrogance. For one of the few times in his life, Babidi was scared.

"Buu, is everything okay?" Babidi asked, hoping that his fears wouldn't come to light and that Buu wouldn't kill him.

"Everything is fine, brother. In fact I was just thinking of how I would deal with you."

Babidi shivered, "Well Buu, what do you mean. I'm not your brother I'm your mas-"

He was cut off by Buu's upraised hand glowing with energy.

"Finish that sentence and I will finish you off. The only reason I haven't done so yet is from the respect and love I have for father. Our father. But I will not tolerate any indication of you being better than me."

Babidi quickly nodded, "Yes, I'm sorry Buu. But what do you want?"

Buu smiled at him, "I have a proposition that will benefit both of us quite nicely actually. Two of them in fact. First I would want an upgrade to my body, this one is unsuited for fighting. And the next would be that we join together and rule the universe."

"What do you mean join together?" Babidi asked, while he knew that he could easily do the first, it was just a simple matter of morphing an already existing structure into a new shape. The second one he was confused on though, he knew what happened to those that were incorporated into Buu. They became trapped in pods in a coma-like state waiting to be fully integrated.

"Its simple really, I would absorb you. You will retain all bodily functions and be free to move around as you see fit. I will gain all of your magical knowledge and you will be safe and essentially immortal. You will be safe and I will become even more formidable. It works out to both our advantages."

Babidi looked at him skeptically, "How do I know I would still be able to move around and think for myself. I know for a fact when you absorb something it is kept in a stasis until complete integration."

Buu smiled once again, "Because I can choose to have you remain so. You would have to remain connected however so a thin tube will be attached to you the entire time, merely to link us together and sustain you."

Babidi thought this over; it was true he would be much safer. While he would have enjoyed being in control more he could see the practical side of it at the same time. With the level of fighters on Earth and the Supreme Kai's relation with them, any and all movement would be cracked down on and he would be the most vulnerable. The boy had shown on Earth how easily he could destroy his barrier and Buu couldn't always be there to protect him. The more he thought about it the more it appealed to him, finally deciding on what his response would be he spoke.

"Buu, I agree to your proposal. Any specific requests on how you want your new body shape to be?"

"I'm glad you accepted, this is a much easier option than forcibly absorbing you. I wouldn't want to tarnish father's memory like that. I want a similar build to what I started out with, a built proportional body but taller. A longer and thicker antenna and remove the cape and gloves, it's a weakness that could easily be exploited. Thank you, this does mean a lot to me." And Buu was sincere, he had loved his father and was glad he could at least share his existence with his technical brother.

"Okay easy enough, this might tickle a lot though." Forming the mental picture of what he wanted in his mind, Babidi projected his own magical energies out into Buu and yelled the activation word for all spells, "Parapapa!"

Buu gasped, he could feel his flesh liquefying and molding, his rotund body slimmed down into a built figure most men would sell their souls to have. The cape dropped off and the gloves disappeared. The antenna lengthened down to his waist and thickened proportionately. Finally his face took on more humanoid dimensions, a discernable nose and mouth. His eyes took on an appearance that could easily pass as a humans except they were completely black while the pupil turned red. The vest remained proportional to his upper body's dimensions.

Buu opened and closed his hands, marveling at the dexterity each individual finger demonstrated. He punched the space in front of him, the pink material mimicking muscle in the way it flexed and extended. All in all Buu was very pleased with how the change in appearance turned out. Buu smiled graciously at Babidi, his fully formed mouth easily accommodated the maneuver whereas before it just stretched.

"Thank you brother, this will make things so much easier. Are you ready to continue." He asked.

Babidi sighed, while he agreed with Buu it didn't mean that he was looking forward to the process. "Might as well do it now, better sooner than later."

Buu spread out his arms and as he did so his entire body expanded and morphed into its liquid state. Wrapping around the force bubble Babidi had around him, he surrounded him completely before Babidi turned it off. Babidi closed his eyes as he felt Buu encompass him and soon felt a very weird sensation around his entire body. It felt like being in a fast flowing body of water and while his body resisted at first, soon he was carried in its flow. Once the sensation was over, Babidi opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. It looked like a room, but Babidi knew that he was inside Majin Buu's head. The walls and floor were made out of the same pink material he was but it was veined, each vein pulsing randomly. Looking up he saw that a long pink tendril connected the ceiling to his head.

"That's going to get annoying to look at." He muttered under his breath and with a "Parapapa" light bent around the tendril leaving it invisible to the eye, but still there. Seeing how it was completely empty, Babidi went around furnishing with random spells. If Babidi was going to spend eternity in here, he wanted to be able to occupy himself and relax.

Buu opened his eyes as his body reformed itself. Feeling satisfied at the merger with his brother and the knowledge he subsequently gained, Buu now felt that he was unstoppable. Knowing that if he were to rule the world successfully he would have to pay the Earth another visit, two individuals there would have to be taken care of. But first, Buu wanted to have some fun.

Still in orbit around New Namek, Buu recalled form Cooler's memories that the inhabitants were friends with those of Earth's ragtag defenders. Raising his hand above his head, one finger extended, he charged ki to it. Immediately a large ball formed, emitting yellow and orange like and bits of it arcing around to land on another spot on its surface. The move was aptly named 'Supernova' Buu thought as he gazed at the inherited technique. Laughing to himself, he flicked his finger down and the attack responded. It fell down to the planets surface, any bolt of ki that tried to deflect it was absorbed into the attack. Unimpeded, it soon reached the planets surface and burrowed through into the core, in less than a minute it hit. In less than two minutes the entirety of the Namek race save for two survivors became extinct.

Clapping his now five-fingered hands together in delight Buu watched the fireworks. Deciding to test his new abilities, he erected a magical shield around himself as the planet exploded. What would have blown him to bits barely even warped the surface of his protective bubble. Babidi may have been a skilled wizard, but with his immense power each spell was exponentially more powerful. He didn't even need to say the command word that limited most magicians. Even if a spell backfired because of its lack, he didn't need to worry, sure magic would hurt him much more than ki would, but he could still easily regenerate from it though it may take longer to do so. As he thought of that he knew it was a good idea that he would be visiting Earth. One of those fighters, the young one, had wielded a weapon that was capable of causing him pain. If fact it was because of that weapon that they had done as much damage as they did, if his then weak mental processes hadn't been so preoccupied with the fact he had been hurt. Then the attack that almost obliterated him wouldn't have done near the amount of damage that it did.

"But first, a snack." And Buu warped to a delightfully tasteful pastry shop that Cooler had once visited. If the proprietors didn't give him the food without a fuss, then he would turn them into cake as well. It was a wonderful thing having complete power.

* * *

Dende's eyes snapped open. He had been in the middle of soothing a storm that threatened to submerge an entire island when he picked up a strong mental burst. Turning towards Piccolo he saw that he had too opened his eyes from his constant meditation.

"Was that, Moori?" Dende asked his mentor.

Piccolo thought about it, while he personally had never connected telepathically with Moori, Nail had done so on several occasions. Delving deep into the part of his mind that had formed when he fused with Nail and Kami, he entered a mental landscape of Namek. Seeing the landscape brought back memories of his fight with Frieza and his second near death experience, but like it always did, it soothed him as he looked upon his native homeland. Before he could go too deep into his memories of Namek he was interrupted.

"It is good to see you again Piccolo."

He turned and saw the proud form of Nail, the first Namek he fused with. Nodding his assent he returned the greeting.

"And likewise to you brother, but exchanging pleasantries is not why I'm here. Did you feel Moori's message?"

Nails face instantly grew grim, "Yes I did, and I also decoded the burst. It was a recording of his final moments."

"A recording?" Piccolo asked, never before had he heard of anything like that being capable of being transmitted.

"Yes, a recording. It showed that just minutes ago, planet New Namek was destroyed. Before it was however, he managed to catch a glimpse of the being responsible. A pink skinned creature with a large antenna on his head. It wore a black vest with white pants and a belt that had a large cursive M inscribed on it. Do you know of this creature?"

Piccolo started shaking, not capable of speaking he merely shared his memories with Nail whose eyes widened at what it meant. Majin Buu had survived and was even deadlier than before if the look that was on his face was anything to go by.

Opening his eyes once more he looked at Dende who was waiting patiently.

"New Namek was destroyed, by Majin Buu."

The sound of Dende's staff echoed around the Lookout.

"No it can't be! Gohan destroyed him didn't he?" Dende cried out, tears rolling down his face at the realization that his entire race was practically destroyed.

"Apparently he didn't, Gohan had sent him out into space where he continued to travel to New Namek, where he apparently changed his appearance and became much more intelligent if the look on his face was to indicate anything."

Dende's shoulders sagged, once again he was one of the last surviving members of the Namek race.

"And we just used the Dragon Balls too, we have to wait an entire year now for them to be ready. Do you think we have a chance if he comes back here Piccolo?" he asked.

Piccolo looked down at the ground then walked over to the edge. He gazed out at the planet he had come to love and protect and with a heavy heart he responded.

"I don't know Dende, I don't know."

* * *

Power Levels

Majin Buu: 177,492,134,800

Majin Buu essentially looks the same as when he did when he absorbed Gohan, but he still has his vest and he doesn't have the arm bracers. I just liked that form of him in appearances and I figured from any logical fighter's perspective that the cape was a big weakness. And as you can tell if you give me an idea in a review I may use it in the next chapter! So review anything that pops up into your head and if it works with what I already have planned I may use it somehow. It was because of Kyuubi Gohan's review that I was able to get Buu the added brains to make him a total destructive fighting machine.


	10. Piccolo's Last Stand

I know it's been a while but this was a very difficult chapter to write. Piccolo is actually a very difficult character to write and keep in character. He is so complex and has so much potential that what you are going to read is in my opinion actually quite plausible.

* * *

"Oh, but I know Piccolo" said a voice directly behind the two last Namekians. Piccolo didn't even turn around; he could feel the dark presence behind him and the enormous power it contained. Piccolo was a master of self-control though, his body was relaxed. Inside he was terrified, if Buu wanted to kill him he could do so with a wave of his hand.

"You don't stand a chance young Namekian. The only person who is capable of hurting me can only do it through a sword, and I'm confident that I can kill him with no worries." Buu's voice was laced with arrogance, a trait inherited from Cooler. He talked condescendingly to the two people as an adult would to a child.

"Then why are you here?" said Piccolo as he turned and faced Buu, the description matching the fleeting glimpse Moori had gotten before he died. The only difference was his distended stomach which bulged out from his center. The air crackled with power as the warrior powered up to his highest. Buu smiled at him and shook his head.

"Poor Piccolo, you should know you can't fight me. You may be the fourth strongest fighter in the universe, but you pale in comparison to my strength. At most your power is a mere 2% of what I possess."

Piccolo didn't care, he would fight to the death to protect Gohan. Even if it was futile he would try to protect him.

"I'm not going to repeat myself. Why. Are. You. Here!" Piccolo said with a roar. Each word was punctuated with a pause for emphasis.

"To have fun, sow a little chaos and discord. Also business, this planet contains the only fighters capable of opposing me and if I want to rule the only smart thing to do is end them. That list happens to include: You; Vegeta; and young Gohan." As he spoke he reached his hand into his stomach, the pink flesh parting, and pulled out a slice of chocolate cake.

"Granted I could probably spare both you and Vegeta. You don't possess the power and would never be able to while Cooler's memories show that Vegeta knows how to operate in an empire. Gohan has to die though, his heart is too pure to be converted to my service and his power is a nuisance." Buu's musings were cut short as a bolt of ki lanced out from Piccolo's outstretched arm and destroyed the held pastry.

"You talk too much; you are not going to kill Gohan. You're going to have to get through me!" And with that, Piccolo's body erupted in ki. Not bothering to take off his weights he simply disintegrated them with his aura.

'I hope this works, I watched Goku do it enough.' Piccolo thought to himself as he gathered his ki entirely into his body.

"Kaio-Ken!" Piccolo's pale aura transitioned into a dark red as the effects of the Kaio-Ken took place. Piccolo decided to only double his power because due to the fact that he had never tried the Kaio-Ken before, it would be safer to utilize it in its basic form. What he wasn't expecting though was the smile on Buu's face as he powered up.

Frowning he said, "What's so funny Buu?"

Giving a small arrogant smile Buu responded, "Oh nothing. It's just that I'm sure you didn't know that I can learn moves only seeing them once. Interesting technique by the way, quite amazing how you are able to double your power by feeding you ki back in on itself, must be quite a strain on the body. Can you go further? I'm interested to see how many times you can fold your ki before you explode."

"Makousen!" Piccolo quickly cupped his hands near his stomach and launched the orange sphere of energy towards Buu who slapped it into the sky with his antenna. It was all a distraction though as Piccolo phased behind him and latched onto the long appendage. Giving a big pull he was surprised when it extended with the downward pull, before he could recover completely however Buu's back erupted outward as the rubbery material morphed into several spiky protuberances and stabbed into Piccolo's chest.

Turning his head completely around, Buu winked at Piccolo who merely snarled into his face.

"Bye-bye Piccolo." And with that Buu expanded the material impaling Piccolo's chest, the expansion ripped apart the warrior's body with his head being detached completely. Covered in purple gore, Buu turned back to the terror-stricken Dende.

"Even with that wondrous technique he was no match for me, it's too bad. I really would have spared him, so few Namekians are left after all. Now where is the boy?"

'I can't tell him where Gohan lives, it's night where he is and he would be caught completely off guard.' Dende thought as he stared down the pink monstrosity in front of him. He didn't have to worry though; Buu soon learned that you never turn your back on an enemy, especially if they can regenerate.

"Kaio-Ken times five!" An explosion of force erupted from behind Buu as a tornado of red energy spiraled off of Piccolo's body. Pushing his body to it's limits Piccolo had pushed the Kaio-Ken to the highest he could. In fact if he wasn't a Namekian his body would have exploded due to the sheer power that the now strongest fighter on Earth commanded. It was literally tearing his body apart, the only thing keeping him together was his natural regeneration. The damage was being repaired at almost the same instant it was created.

"I'm not done yet Buu. You are not going to harm one hair on his head!" Piccolo launched at Buu with his right arm clocked back, fingers extended in a claw shape. Once he was several feet away from Buu he flicked his own antennae forward and they emitted a bolt of ki directly into Buu's face. As the demon stumbled back in surprise, wiping at the melted remains of his face, Piccolo attacked. Driving his fist into Buu's chest, he charged and released a ball of ki which shot out clean through leaving a hole from arm to arm.

Not liking how easily Piccolo was dismantling his body, Buu sent out a pulse of ki which flung Piccolo back. Before Piccolo could reorient his body Buu struck out, extending his left arm straight into Piccolo's jaw. As his head whipped to the side from the force of the punch, Buu then used his still extended arm and wrapped it around Piccolo's body, much like a constricting snake ensnares its prey. Once the Namek was trapped, Buu finished regenerating his chest and face. Glaring up at Piccolo, Buu retracted his arm and brought his right arm back. Once Piccolo was near, Buu punched him square on the shoulder which tore off the green and pink limb.

Before Piccolo could scream in pain, Buu then placed his hand directly on the bleeding socket and fed his ki into Piccolo's body. What he found pleasantly surprised him. While Piccolo was mainly pure, nauseatingly so in Buu's opinion, there was a small taint on his soul; a small speck of evil. And if there was evil, Buu could gain control. Interested to see how that speck came to be, Buu brought his hand to rest on the crown of his head.

His eyes widening at the contact, Piccolo was sure that Buu had figured out where the core for his regeneration resided in his anatomy and so released all of the ki in his body in a final attempt to be free. The flash of energy vaporized the putty entrapping him and sent Buu back flying for miles. Unfortunately it also destroyed most of the Lookout and what wasn't initially destroyed was crumbling.

Dropping the Kaio-Ken, the stress being too much on his weakening body, Piccolo turned to Dende and Mr. Popo and yelled, "Go get Gohan and Vegeta! I'll hold him off as long as I can."

With a grunt of effort Piccolo regenerated his missing arm raising them both above his head, collected a large mass of ki. With a wordless scream he clasped them together and brought it in front of him, his whole body curving around it, and launched the large ball in the direction where he had sent Buu flying. Piccolo had managed to pack a huge amount of power in a short amount of time into the sphere so that when it impacted it exploded in a blast with a radius of tens of miles.

Panting with exhaustion, Piccolo's power had dropped immensely, the constant regeneration had really taken its toll on his reserves. Piccolo remained on guard though, he could still sense Buu's staggering ki signature.

"You done yet?" Piccolo heard Buu's deep voice directly behind him, and as the words registered in his mind he whirled around to face him. As he spun, he launched into a spinning kick, but as it impacted Buu, it passed through his body meeting resistance halfway through where it remained trapped.

Buu's body slowly slithered up the captured leg, but before he could reach his knee Piccolo brought his left arm up and slashed downward across his femur, severing the leg. Buu frowned at seeing his prey escape but soon started to laugh. With Piccolo's leg in his possession he could now fully analyze the residual ki left in the limb and determine whether or not Piccolo could be swayed under his control. Buu reformed his body completely around the leg so that he could study it safely without interruption. Seeing the state Piccolo was in Buu decided to taunt the fighter.

"What happened to all that power you had Piccolo? Don't tell me it all went away; and here I was debating whether or not I would spare you if you could keep that up. Oh well, I guess that just like against Cooler you fail to do any useful damage."

Piccolo knew better than to rise up to the bait and merely bided his time, waiting for the right moment to regenerate and attack. Piccolo didn't want to admit it, but time was running out fast for him. If he couldn't figure out a way to stall for more time Dende would never be able to warn Gohan in time. Unfortunately he was unable to land any lasting damage on the seemingly invincible creature. As he was pondering this something very unexpected happened. It wasn't something external, it happened internally.

'Piccolo, this is Nail. Both Kami and I have been conferring on the best way to stall for time and have reached a consensus. Use the multiform technique and transfer both of our consciousnesses into them. Hopefully the presence of two more personalities will throw Majin Buu off and confuse him. Do you agree with our plan?' Nail's voice echoed from deep in Piccolo's mind.

'Are you sure that it will work Nail? I thought that in a merger that it was permanent and that the host body would remain in control the entire time?' Piccolo asked, he had never really bothered to know much about the Namekian form of fusion other than the fact that it is permanent.

'Yes it should work, all you have to do is perform the multiform and give up control of the two extra bodies. We will swap control with your mind in those bodies allowing you to put your full attention on the matter at hand.'

"I just hope your right." Seeing the puzzled look on Buu's face sense he had spoken his agreement out loud Piccolo smirked.

"Oh don't worry Buu, you'll see soon enough." Once those words were said Piccolo screamed. Arms erupted out of his back in a spray of green fluid as another body fought its way out. Once it was out another soon followed it and the three Piccolos settled into a wedge formation with the original in the forefront.

Buu's eyes had widened as he witnessed the admittedly grotesque split. The one on Buu's left stretched and upon gazing on the ruins of the Lookout let out a large sigh, sadness etched on his face as his body visibly sagged. The right one and last to emerge was almost the opposite. It threw a couple of punches and seemingly satisfied with what it found' its face broke out into a feral grin.

"Kami, Nail, if we are to succeed we need to work together." The middle and original Piccolo said. The one on the left straightened up and glared at Buu, the expression though was very unlike what Buu would expect from Piccolo in the amount of time he's known him and was wondering if each individual clone possessed its own personalities. Plus the fact that Piccolo had referred to them with different names so his hypothesis was becoming more and more plausible.

"I say we just power-up to our maximums and take him out, he should pay for what he did to our people." This time the right one spoke, hatred spewed from its mouth and Buu was shocked. Its voice was completely different than Piccolo's!

"Quiet Nail, you know we can't do that." Another unknown voice, from the left. And it wasn't just different than Piccolo's in the voice, it was much raspier and aged.

"Both of you shut up, just follow my lead." Said Piccolo. As the clones nodded and grunted they each simultaneously settled into a mid-air power-up position.

"Kaio-Ken times three!" each shouted at the same time as their ki skyrocketed back up to where Piccolo's normally was. The split had divided his ki into thirds so this way they were on a more even power scale now and capable of fighting Buu.

Nail charged forward and as he neared Buu he opened up with the same move he had used on Frieza. Chopping down at Buu's neck he hoped to distract him long enough for Kami and Piccolo to get in position. Before he could make contact though Buu's body liquefied and slid around his hand and reformed at his side. Nail and Buu made eye-contact but before Nail could do anything Buu smirked and round house kicked him sending the fusee flying back thousands of meters. His victory was short lived as two narrow beams pierced through his head right where his eyes were. Now while Buu was still much more powerful than the three Piccolos he could still feel pain if a sensitive area was attacked.

Yelling out in pain he quickly regenerated his eyes and faced his aggressor. Seeing that he was spotted Kami quickly charged more ki to his eyes and launched more attacks at the demon. With the element of surprise gone though Buu was able to dodge and thus avoid any damaging hits. Deciding to give him a piece of his own medicine Buu also launched ki out of his eyes towards Kami. Knowing that he would be unable to deflect the attacks, Kami decided to dodge which he did so by dropping straight down. Before Buu could pursue however something latched onto his antenna and pulled. Caught off guard Buu was carried along with it, looking up to see who was pulling he was surprised to see a long green arm latched on him that extended off into the distance.

Buu reached up behind his head and grabbed onto the arm and squeezed, the sound of bones breaking reached his ears causing him to smile. That smile soon faded as the original Piccolo came shooting down from above him and impacted his stomach feet first. This drove the wind out of Buu and he went flying straight down into the ground. When he impacted the ground he went straight through it and traveled a hundred miles down into the Earth's mantle.

As soon as he hit Buu, the three Nameks gathered together and charged an attack together. Floating in a triangle formation, their hands touched in the center and an attack formed. Sweat poured from their bodies as they poured every ounce of ki in their bodies into the attack. Right as they finished charging the ground below them started to shake. The cause was soon determined as a large red beam of energy lanced out from below.

Nail frowned as he noticed that the power contained in the beam was higher than their unfinished attack. Turning towards Kami and Piccolo he said, "Keep charging, I'll hold off Buu until you're done." With that said he launched towards the attack and concentrating all his power into his left hand, held out his arm and smashed it into the side of the attack when it drew near. Realizing that his current power wasn't enough to deflect the attack, Nail drew a deep breath.

"Kaio-Ken times ten!" he shouted as his body bulged out to nearly triple its normal size from the power influx. In a scream of pain and defiance he deflected Buu's attack out to the side. That was all he managed to do however as the power was too much for his body and he exploded in a flash of red and orange ki, his body destabilizing. The ki used to sustain his body divided up between Kami and Piccolo where upon obtaining it they dumped it all into the charging sphere of energy. Finally reaching a level of strength that would have destroyed Cell several times over, they fired the attack.

At the exact moment that the attack was launched, Buu came flying out of the ground. Seeing the attack heading straight for him he grinned a held out both hands as if he were to catch it. Before it could reach him though, Piccolo and Kami each clenched their outstretched hands causing the large ball to burst open into thousands of smaller ki blasts. Each went zooming towards Buu who swatted away the few that came towards him.

Buu looked up at the two Nameks and yelled, "Is that the best you got? Your aim is pathetic even for a technique like that!" Buu failed to see though the identical smirks on both Kami and Piccolo's faces.

"You are about to see our best Buu, I just hope you can handle it." Said Kami, right when he finished his sentence, Piccolo extended his arms and crossed them over his chest in a hugging movement. Realizing suddenly what had just happened, Buu turned around and stared in shock at the thousands of ki blasts that now surrounded him.

As Piccolo finished the movement each and every blast zeroed in on his location. Bracing himself for impact Buu curled himself into a ball, but unfortunately Piccolo had learned his lesson from the last time he gave an enemy to prepare a defense against his technique.

Piccolo flew directly at Buu while Kami ceased the ki balls homing function. Piccolo hyperextended his arms at Buu and opened his hands completely, once he was close enough he stabbed his arms directly into Buu's body, puncturing through the rubbery flesh. Buu gasped in surprise as two green pointy hands went right through his body, looking around he noticed that each ki ball had stopped moving so he figured that it was a distraction. Coming out of his ball he molded his body to turning around without actually moving, the flesh reforming in the opposite direction it had originally faced.

"Nice try Piccolo, but I now have both of your arms trapped in my body. What are you going to do about it?" Buu gloated.

"This." And as soon as Piccolo finished his one word sentence, the forgotten Kami resumed the homing rain of destruction. Each blast hit Buu at exactly the same time. The resulting explosion threw out a shockwave that flattened the nearby forests and almost knocked down Korin's tower. Buu screamed out in agony as the attack burned away at his skin, he hadn't felt an attack this powerful since the one the kid had hit him with two days ago. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and his body exploded in a giant fireball, the force sending Piccolo and Kami flying back for several hundred miles.

Looking at the explosion Piccolo couldn't help but smile at what he had accomplished. Looking down at the stumps where both of his arms used to be he gathered the necessary ki into the shoulders where they regenerated in a fountain of green fluid. From within the recesses of his mind he could feel the exhilaration emanate from Nail who was celebrating from the thought of avenging his people and planet.

"Good job Piccolo, I just hope that the Earth won't have to face a large threat like that soon." said Kami, now that their enemy was seemingly destroyed he was tired. Soon he would be able to rest again for the long time that awaited them for Piccolo to succumb to old age. He turned to Piccolo and gave him a sad smile and faded away, the power stored in his body returning to Piccolo.

"It's finally over." Piccolo said out loud. Looking down at his tattered clothing he concentrated and replaced his purple gi, along with weighted cloak and turban. Stretching out his senses he located Dende's energy signature just a mile from Gohan's house, orienting himself into that direction Piccolo prepared to blast off and meet him there. Right as he did though he heard, "Para papa!"

Suddenly unable to move, Piccolo could only look on in horror as the reason for his immobilization became clear. Majin Buu floated up right in front of him and laughed upon seeing the look on Piccolo's face.

"Don't worry Piccolo I'm not going to kill you. You will be a far more valuable asset alive than you would be dead." Buu said. Piccolo could only growl in anger and hatred as the pink demon gloated and drifted nearer.

"Oh yes get angry. Hate me! It will only make it easier for me." And with that Buu clasped his hands on both sides of Piccolo's head and gazed directly into his black eyes.

"Now I don't normally have to do this with everyone, but you are a special case Piccolo. You have no evil in your heart and were it not for the bond you share with someone evil, then I would have never been able to do this. Congratulations Piccolo, you are the first member of my new empire. Para papa!"

* * *

Piccolo screamed out in agony as negative energy entered his head, thoughts that were not his own swirled around in his consciousness. His very ki was being perverted as new energy was being reworked into his anatomy, strengthening his entire body. Had it been a normal sorcerer or even Babidi then Piccolo would have been able to fight off the spell. But Buu was leagues above any magician in terms of pure magical might, and with the use of the command word it was amplified even further. In its last ditch effort to be free, Piccolo's body released all of it's ki in an attempt to drive Buu away. Buu however did not budge, he was done playing around with Piccolo and now it was time for business.

Piccolo was losing ground, the new entity that had entered his mind was fighting for dominance, and surprisingly it was vaguely familiar. It was only when it spoke that Piccolo realized who it was, 'Just give up son, you've lost and its now my turn.'

'I will never give up, I will not lose control to you and Buu.' Piccolo thought back to his intruding father.

'Your attachments have made you weak son. Just imagine it, an entire universe for us to control. The only people in our and Buu's way is the family of the man who killed me, the man you were supposed to kill in order to avenge me, Goku. With them gone we will rule the universe at Buu's side just as we were meant to do for all eternity.'

'Listen to your father Piccolo, he speaks the truth. Would it not be easier to give up and give in to me?' Now Buu had managed to worm his way into Piccolo's mind.

'Never! You will not take the lives of the people who I hold dear! Not while I still draw breath!' Piccolo roared out in his mind, but he was losing badly. Were it not for Buu's immobilizing spell he would have fallen out of the sky.

'You have lost Piccolo, you've already lost control of your body. The adjustments to your body are almost complete and when they are your father will assume control of your body and will become my right hand. This ends now, no hard feelings.' Even in his head Buu's laughter was bone chilling.

'Goodbye son, I'll take good care of your body for you though.' Now the laughter of his father joined in with that of Buu's and that was when Piccolo felt he was slipping. An influx of energy pushed him farther into his mind than he had ever been, not even in his meditations had he traveled this far.

Suddenly though the pushing stopped, and he felt two pairs of hands help steady him. Looking up he gazed into the faces of Nail and Kami, both sharing the same look of sadness and self-loathing. What was even more confusing was that both were wounded, both were pale and covered in scratches and dried blood.

'We tried to hold him off, but we failed. I'm sorry Piccolo.' Said Kami, the old man was leaning on his staff and driving it into the ground. Piccolo had been driven to a place that reminded him of Namek, but it was different. Vast forests covered the landscape and the sky was a much darker green than what both he and Nail had seen of Namek. It seems that Buu had driven him into the lost memories of when he and Kami had been whole and on Namek before it was almost destroyed in a great cataclysm.

'There is nothing we can do now but watch.' Nail said, and as they looked off into the distance, they could see and feel what Piccolo Daimao experienced. Piccolo was not one to give up though and he charged towards the area where the real world could be seen. He had not gotten far though before he encountered a barrier of dark energy, upon contact it electrocuted him with the same amount of energy he was outputting. The result sent Piccolo flying back to where he had started; he would have crashed into the ground if Nail hadn't flown up and caught him.

'We failed, and because of my foolishness you each have to pay the price. Nail, Kami, I'm sorry.' Piccolo said as Nail brought them back down to the ground.

'All we can hope for is that the others can manage to defeat Buu, they are the universes only hope.' Kami said, 'As for us, we should conserve our power. We may need it later.' Nail and Piccolo reflected on Kami's advice and each nodded as they agreed.

* * *

"Well I do say that was a success, welcome to the family Piccolo." Buu said as he looked at his new lieutenant. He was greeted with a deep booming laugh that emanated from deep within Piccolo, as Piccolo brought his head up, red electricity arced around his body. The adjustments had finished, while the Majin spell usually just powers-up an individual, Buu took all the power and used it to make Piccolo's body more durable. The Kaio-Ken was all Piccolo would need, and if he could sustain it for longer and at higher levels then it would be perfect.

The laughter continued as Piccolo Daimao raised his head, a large black cursive M branded onto his forehead.

* * *

Power Levels:

Majin Buu: 177,492,134,800

Piccolo: 2,931,000,000

Piccolo(Kaio-Ken X 2): 5,862,000,000

Piccolo(Kaio-Ken X 5): 14,655,000,000

'Nail', 'Kami', 'Original Piccolo'(Kaio-Ken X 3): 2,931,000,000

'Nail'(Kaio-Ken X 10): 9,770,000,000


	11. Armageddon

Yes I know it has been a very long time, but I had so many ideas for how to do this chapter I just did not know what to do. Also factor in laziness and school work and well. My longest chapter yet and I actually had to shorten it and break this into parts. How many parts and how long they will take to do I have no idea.

* * *

Gohan woke to a furious pounding on his front door. As he got out of bed and dressed he stretched out his senses to see who his late night visitor was. To his surprise it was Dende. Finished dressing, Gohan just started to head towards the door when his mother strode down the hallway to the door. Just by looking at her Gohan could tell she was livid, not everyone likes to be woken at two in the morning. She yanked open the door ready to give a good thorough tongue-lashing at the unfortunate person who interrupted her sleep.

As soon as the door opened however Dende bolted in past Chi-Chi and straight to Gohan.

"Now listen here you can't just barge in my house young man!" Chi-Chi said in a fierce whisper, afraid to wake up Goten who amazingly managed to sleep through the commotion.

"Mom, its Dende." This simple statement from Gohan and the way he said it made Chi-Chi stop and look more closely at the man who walked in.

"Well it doesn't excuse him from just walking in now does it?" She was ignored though as right when she finished speaking Gohan suddenly stiffened and looked west.

"No, it can't be. I killed him." said Gohan. His eyes widened and his shoulders slumped as he further sensed out and noticed Piccolo's fluctuating ki signature and its complete change. Once before Piccolo's signature exuded warmth, not as bright and cheery as some of the humans who broadcasted their emotions like the sun, but more like the comforting glow of a fireplace. Now it was bone chilling and evil, and it no longer registered as completely Piccolo's, it felt more like Cell's did; a combination of signatures that left it unique but still recognizable.

The silence was shattered as right when the change occurred Dende gasped and clutched at his head, pained grunts escaping his clenched jaws as he struggled not to scream out in pain. Once the tremors stopped Dende spoke.

"Something has severed the telepathic link I had with Piccolo. I managed to catch a glimpse of what happened before it was terminated though. Buu used a form of mind-control that brings out the evil in a person's heart, but since Piccolo doesn't have any evil he used the bond he shares with his deceased father to do it. Piccolo's father is now in control of his body though and Piccolo has been locked away inside his own mind."

"Wait, how can Buu do something like that? Last time I saw him he was a stupid man-child who was capable of understanding only simple commands?" Gohan asked the distraught Namekian.

"I don't know, when I saw Buu he was different than the last time he was here. I know he destroyed New Namek and when he did Moori managed to broadcast the last thing he saw which was Buu and he was changed. He's no longer the fat blob he used to be, he's tall and muscular with a long tentacle. His cape is gone and he has a cold calculating look in his eyes and he spoke of now wanting to rule and mentioned Cooler. All I know is that he is now much more dangerous the way he is now than how he was previously."

"So he changed somehow in the time it took for him to get to New Namek, and he talked about Cooler. But that's impossible, Cooler has been dead for years. Dad and Vegeta destroyed the last trace of him when the Big Gete Star landed on, uh oh." Gohan suddenly realized what must have happened for Buu to become as intelligent as Dende let him to believe. There must have been a trace of Cooler and Buu absorbed it.

"What's 'uh oh' Gohan?" Chi-Chi asked her son.

"There must have been a piece of Cooler orbiting New Namek and Buu somehow absorbed it and Cooler's memories. That's the only explanation I can think of for this to happen." Gohan replied to his mother.

"Gohan, Buu said he was after you. Now that Piccolo is under his control he now knows where you live. We should get the others while we still can." Said Dende.

Before any of them could move however Gohan's head snapped up and he bolted out the door and blasted off away from the house as fast as he could. The reason why soon became apparent as a violent orange blast arced towards him in pursuit as it homed in on the half-dressed teenager.

Ascending into the first form of Super Saiyan, Gohan quickly flared and spun his aura right as the blast impacted causing it to be stripped of its energy as the spinning aura literally 'sanded' it away. Relaxing his body, Gohan settled into an aerial stance as he waited for the one who had fired the blast to reveal himself, the golden light from his aura made this easier as it easily illuminated the surrounding landscape for a good couple of miles.

"Well since it seems you want to play, why don't you show yourself so I can return the favor." Gohan said to the darkness.

"It's disgraceful. How could my son have ever grown attached to the child of the one who killed me. Even now he resists deep inside me, trying to save you." A voice rang out from the shadows, the owner flitting from tree to tree, staying out of the light produced by Gohan.

Gohan frowned, the voice sounded like Piccolo's but it wasn't at the same time, it was deeper for one and the way it talked was completely different. 'It seems that Dende was right about Piccolo's father taking control of his body,' Gohan thought to himself as he readied himself for combat, as he waited he slowly trickled out ki from his body into the air around him though.

He didn't need to wait long however as a tree came soaring out of the dark straight at Gohan. 'Well that is obviously a trap, if I dodge I'm open and if I block or destroy it I'm also left vulnerable. This night just keeps getting better and better.' Gohan thought as it came closer. Getting an idea, Gohan erected a thin shield that hugged his body and decided to dodge. Right when he moved a red blur phased behind him and grabbed him in a full body lock. As Piccolo's arms and legs encased him, the instant they touched the shield around Gohan they were scorched.

Spinning around Gohan latched onto Piccolo's shoulders causing even more burns and as Piccolo Daimao's eyes widened Gohan smirked and detonated the energy-saturated air around them. Protected by his shield Gohan managed to escape unharmed, but the same could not be said for Daimao.

His gi from the waist up was completely destroyed. Daimao's chest was covered in burns and shallow cuts but none were serious wounds, in fact the cuts were already closing up and the burns were replaced with new skin. The scared look on Daimao's face was soon replaced with one of contempt and malice. While the attack was more than strong enough to have seriously damaged the original Piccolo, the Majin enhancement had greatly increased his bodies durability which combined with his Namekian healing made him almost impossible to kill.

As he smiled, the red aura intensified around Daimao and his power soared higher. The sudden up-swing in power forced Gohan to relinquish his hold on the demonic Namek and almost made him lose his concentration on the shield encasing him. His power now three times larger than normal, Daimao latched onto Gohan's shoulders, and ignoring the burns, drove his knee straight into the teenager's abdomen. The strike impacted the shield and the shield held, but barely. The shield did nothing however from preventing the momentum from passing through to Gohan which sent him flying backwards, breaking the sound barrier immediately.

As the son of Goku flew back, Daimao quickly brought his hands up into the air above his head and generated a large ki ball. Upon which it pulsed, and each pulse doubled its size until it reached a diameter of one hundred meters. 'Perfect.' And with that Daimao launched the ball in the direction of his enemy.

Gohan hadn't even traveled a mile before he noticed Daimao's attack homing in on him, seeing the large ball he didn't even bother trying to slow down. Throwing his arms out in front of him he concentrated the ki distributed in the barrier into his hands and braced for impact. The large destructive ball of ki was easily traveling several times faster than he himself was and so Gohan just allowed it to collide with him and as it did so he dug his ki-encased hands into the attack. His hold secure, Gohan quickly accelerated and rose up into the air. When he was sure that the attack would pass harmlessly into space, Gohan used Instantaneous Movement to appear right behind Daimao.

As he finished his warp, Gohan brought back his right arm upon which he once again concentrated the shields density to that point and morphed it into a ki-blade. Daimao turned around and spoke right as Gohan's hand descended in an arc that would impact Daimao's neck.

"Kaio-Ken times ten."

The red aura surrounding Daimao exploded outward as Piccolo's power soared to a height that had only been obtained by a sparse set of individuals. Inches separated Gohan's attack and Daimao's neck, the only thing in between them was Piccolo's aura. Gohan grunted and strained but was helpless to push his attack any further than what it already had gone. Sparks soon surrounded the teen and transitioned to fully fledged lightning as he powered up into the next level, but it was still not enough. Daimao was still roughly three times stronger than Gohan, and with as strong as they were that made for a huge difference. Even if Daimao was at half his current power he would still outclass Gohan by far, which is exactly what he did now.

"So this is the power of the legendary Super Saiyan Two, I heard stories of you in hell boy. Cell was mad at you for a long time, but of course he was still madder at himself for pushing you this far, after all that was the reason for his death. Also one thing I have to say before you die. Recount all those interesting things you learned in your "studies?" Well since you were so kind as to regale all those choice tid-bits I know about human anatomy, and its weaknesses."

Gohan's eyes widened as he just realized how vulnerable of a position he was in and tried to retreat, but before he could Daimao struck. A straight jab placed an inch below the center of his solar plexus. The sternum of the human body was composed of three main parts, the manubrium, body, and xiphoid process. Now what had interested Gohan when he learned about it, was how if CPR were done incorrectly, say the compressions were done just a little bit lower than they should be, then the xiphoid process could easily snap and plunge directly into the heart. It was this piece of information that Gohan had told Piccolo about, and Piccolo stored everything that Gohan told him and thus had a perfect memory as to when his protégé was involved.

Gohan heard the thin bone snap before he felt the pain of Daimao's punch; and with a sinking feeling knew what had happened. In an oddly detached way he observed the lightning fade from his aura as it lost its intensity. It soon faded to a translucent white, this all happened in less than a blink of an eye, but with Gohan and Daimao's power, time slowed down and they processed everything faster than some supercomputers. You needed to if you were going to fight at speeds that rivaled the speed of light. With his fading power time sped up for Gohan and the force of the punch finally transferred into his body propelling him straight to the ground.

With a loud crash and the sound of splintering wood, Gohan landed. His last conscious thought was how odd it was that Daimao had punched him into his room.

* * *

"Gohan." The simple word echoed across the planet of the Grand Kai as Goku stood, his hand on King Kai's shoulder, dumbfounded as he watched Piccolo kill his son.

King Kai trembled as he realized that with Goku still gripping his shoulder he was in very real danger if he decided to get mad, he could very easily crush his collar bone.

"Goku, I'm sorry but you know the rules. Without permission you can't go into the living realm, I know you did that with Bojack but that was forgiven only because we Kai's had tried containing him in the past so he was already registered as a serious threat."

"My son, my son is dead. And you want me to listen about rules!" Goku exploded with rage. He had no idea what possessed Piccolo to do such a thing to Gohan. He and King Kai only noticed the fight between the two because they were resting and Goku had just finished eating a large meal after a rough training session with Pikkon and Olibu. At first Goku couldn't believe Gohan's power, in only the first form of Super Saiyan he was about as strong as Cell! And Piccolo too, the surprise he and King Kai had felt when they saw him use the Kaio-Ken was enormous. Goku hadn't even taught Gohan it so he had no idea how Piccolo could have possibly learned it.

"Goku calm down, in fact Vegeta is heading there as we speak so let's just watch and see what happens okay." King Kai pleaded with Goku. With his new transformation if he decided to go berserk they would have no choice but to seal him away, only temporarily of course, just as long as it would take for him to calm down. In both the first and second levels of Super Saiyan they would be fine to let Goku get mad and blow off some steam, but there was something different about the third level. It was primal, angry. Goku was much more aggressive and prone to snapping at people if they annoyed him when in that form. If this is what he was like when calm then King Kai shuddered to think what Goku could do if he was truly royally pissed. Goku had no idea of the contingency plan but he calmed down anyway, trusting Vegeta to get to the bottom of Piccolo's reasoning.

* * *

Vegeta felt the climb of Daimao's power and then the sheer drop of Gohan's. He realized that in that moment Gohan had been killed. Even at the height of his power, Gohan was brushed aside like a fly. Vegeta knew his only hope would be to try and take Daimao out in one all out attack, as much as it chagrined him to say it, Gohan was stronger than he was and if he was killed so easily then Vegeta himself stood no chance in a frontal assault. Vegeta also felt obligated to try and avenge the half-saiyan or die trying, how could he face his ancestors in Otherworld if he had turned coward and ran instead of putting all his effort into avenging a comrade.

Sure he had killed Nappa, but what he had done was also a form of respect. Nappa had been crippled, his back completely shattered and probably lodged in various vital organs. So Vegeta released him from his bodily torment, even if at the time he had thought he was getting rid of a useless lackey. During his time on Earth, Vegeta frequently thought back to his treatment of his two saiyan comrades, Nappa and Raditz. He felt ashamed of how far he had fallen during his time under Frieza's reign, he had completely forsaken his saiyan culture and belittled his comrades, all because they did not have the same power growth as he did as he aged. In fact seeing how far Kakarot had grown just by training on this backwater planet then Raditz probably would have shown equal if not greater potential than his brother if he had been given the opportunity to train seriously.

But the past is in the past and Vegeta had to focus on the present. As he flew towards Daimao's energy signature he sensed the earthlings also approaching the battlefield. Even though Vegeta would mock them openly and privately, he still granted them the respect of capable warriors as they had achieved strength much higher than the majority of the universe and were exponentially stronger than the norm for humans. Vegeta also knew that they had some extremely useful techniques that if used right could be the difference between victory and defeat.

Entering the mountain range where Gohan's home was located he powered up to the second level, at this point it was wise to skip the warm-up and try to kill Piccolo as fast as possible. Unlike Gohan he had no qualms about killing Piccolo to end the threat, Gohan may have tried to weaken and incapacitate him but Vegeta would go straight for the kill. And from what Popo had told him then he would have to be wary of Majin Buu as well, one mistake and he would be instantly destroyed.

"Gohan I'm sorry, but I will make sure your death was not in vain. You were the strongest saiyan ever and lived up to the legacy of your forefathers. You have my respect." Vegeta's eulogy done, he started pooling ki into his hands and condensing it. The Saiyan Prince would go out with a bang.

* * *

Descending from his place, high in the sky, Daimao landed in the ruins of Gohan's bedroom. The boy's body had landed directly in the center and created a crater that was ten feet deep, he probably would have gone much further into the ground but in a last ditch effort his body subconsciously braked his fall thus preventing the death of his mother and Dende. Walking over to the unconscious, dying teenager Daimao sneered. Ironically the impact had dislodged the Z-sword, the instrument for his very death, and it had fallen onto his body snapping his femur. Blood oozed out from his mouth and nose as he clung feebly to life. His sensitive ears detecting movement, he looked up and saw Goten burst into the room, Dende and Chi-Chi right on his heels.

Staring down into the crater, Goten's eyes went wide with disbelief and filled with tears. With a raw scream he dove into the crater and clutched at Gohan, trying in vain to rouse him to awareness. Looking up he noticed Piccolo who was staring at him, his mouth opening and closing in shock. Dende and Chi-Chi just froze upon seeing the possessed Namek, to scared to even attempt to get to Gohan.

"Mr. Piccolo! Quickly we have to help him, we can't let my brother die!" Goten sobbed out to the Namek. Unbeknownst to him however, it was not Piccolo who he talked to, but the one who his very likeness had killed.

A deep baritone laugh was his answer. Daimao lost control and just laughed manically as he starred into the face of his most hated enemy, it still had the same baby-fat that Goku had had.

"I hate to break it to you kid, oh who am I kidding, I'm not. But I'm the one who did this to your brother. He's dying, all because of me. Lord Buu has been most kind to me, giving me a body to control and the ability to destroy all in my path. Your brother found that out the hard way." Daimao spoke with a sneer, the grin never leaving his face as he leered down at the seven year old.

Goten's sobs stopped, he kneeled frozen next to his brother, his mind processing everything that had just been spoken. If he looked close he could see that Piccolo showed evidence of being in a fight, the purple blood and torn gi being a give-away. As he looked at Daimao though, the fear and sadness was replaced by a white-hot rage the likes he had never experienced before. He powered up, blowing through the barrier to Super Saiyan instantly. His power-up was also wild, his aura deepened the crater immensely and the winds produced by it were strong enough to pick up Dende and fling him through the walls, knocking him out instantly. Still being on the other side of the doorframe Chi-Chi escaped the forces produced by Goten and wisely backed away, afraid to be caught in the crossfire.

Goten charged at Daimao recklessly headfirst. Daimao, seeing the familiar way he moved was instantly provoked to action, lest he be impaled again. But before he could move a searing pain erupted behind his eyes. As he reared back clutching at his cranium, Goten slammed into his stomach and started wailing on his chest. His arms flailing, Goten had no control over his movements, and with his power-level staying the same it had no effect on Piccolo at all. With a wild yell Daimao flared his aura knocking Goten away and rose into the air, screaming in pain the entire time. Reaching an apex of about four hundred meters in the air, he hovered stationary trying to repel the mental assault. Before he could make any progress though, a thin beam of ki streaked across the sky heading straight for Piccolo's forehead. About a hundred feet away though it was deflected into space.

* * *

Majin Buu slowly came into view at the point where the deflection occurred and he merely floated, waiting. He did not have to long however as the source of the attack also came into view. Vegeta came flying in at top speed directly at Buu with his right fist cocked back to strike. Just a few feet away though he drove his right arm down and emitted a pulse of ki which directed his momentum upwards. His vision never breaking off from his target, this maneuver would have worked on any other opponent other than Buu, but seeing how luck wasn't with him it did not work in his favor. Buu's long thick antenna stretched out and wrapped itself around Vegeta's ankle and with a flick of his head, Buu whipped Vegeta up and over his body to dangle in front of him, clutching his head from the whiplash.

"Nice try Vegeta, but you won't be getting to Piccolo that easily. In fact you won't be getting to him at all. You see, I possess an ability which I am sure you are aware of. I can manipulate a person's emotions and heart and thus subjugate them to my will while bequeathing to that individual a large power boost or similar enhancement. And my memories from Cooler tell me that your heart is anything but pure. I believe it is time for you to return to the Planet Trade Organization Vegeta, as one of my personal lieutenants." And with that Buu tapped the center of Vegeta's forehead and instantly a large black cursive M appeared, and with it so to did an enormous power boost. Unlike Piccolo Vegeta's heart was still impure, though by Otherworld standards and judgment he would be considered neutral at best. Buu was able to batter through Vegeta's mental defenses and established his hold over Vegeta's mind, the saiyan stood no chance against his magical onslaught. Maybe if it had been Babidi or a similarly talented sorcerer he would have been able to fight them off but Buu's might had no equal.

Unlike Piccolo though, Buu did was not forced to bring a foreign entity into his body, instead what he did was bring forth the damaged psyche that Frieza had created. Vegeta had been on the road to healing mentally but like with any post-traumatic-stress disorder he could easily relapse. Buu simply pressed all the triggers for it bringing the ruthless and sadistic Vegeta back into existence. The real Vegeta's personality was still in there but like a man under hypnosis he was aware but unaware at the same time. It would take an incredibly strong stimulus to provoke any sort of reaction from him now.

All this happened in a second, all in the amount of time it took for the Majin insignia to brand itself into his forehead. And once it was done, all hell broke loose. With Vegeta, Buu decided to just go with pure power. And power was what Vegeta exhibited, it just kept rising and rising. Finally it reached a plateau after about doubling his power level. Buu smiled at his handiwork, but something was missing, something nagged at him. Realizing what it was he flicked his antenna at Vegeta and bathed him in a jolt of pink ki. It was time for a change in wardrobe.

His body still covered in the dark blue spandex jumpsuit, Vegeta now sported armor similar to what he had worn in his youth and on Namek. The main body of the armor was pure white with a yellow plate covering the abdomen. It only possessed one shoulder strut which was also colored yellow. Last but not least was the Majin symbol engraved in the spot where Vegeta's heart lay beneath. It was almost an exact copy of what Coolers Armored Squadron had worn, showing Cooler's influence on the mind of Majin Buu.

"What is your wish master?" Vegeta's voice was empty of all emotion, the tone of the perfect soldier. Buu's grin displayed his pleasure at the success of the conversion, it was much easier than converting Piccolo had been.

"I want you to just sit tight. Daimao will handle everything right now." Buu said to his now complete and utterly loyal lieutenant.

"As you command master." With that said both Buu and Vegeta turned to watch Daimao end the Son family.

* * *

"I'll kill you you little brat!" Daimao screamed at Goten as he tried to deal not only with the pint-sized Super Saiyan but the internal attacks as well. The combined efforts of the three Nameks trapped in his mind seemed to be getting stronger, they were probably feeding off of Piccolo's rage at the death of Gohan. 'Serves him right for ever bonding to the brat in the first place.' Daimao thought to himself, smiling to himself even through the pain at the fortuitous events that had taken place and allowed him to take the life of the first-born son of his hated enemy. And one of the other perks of today was that Kami was trapped inside him! It was a dream come true.

Goten's only reply was to plant both feet deep into Daimao's stomach. Of course this had no affect on the Namekian due to the difference in their strength but it still satisfied him. Goten thought that he was actually holding his own against the monster but if Daimao hadn't been under attack mentally as well then he would have never left the same room his brother now lain in alive.

Goten was about to attack again when out of nowhere a thin red pole came zooming in from the ground below and struck Daimao in the exact same place Goten had kicked him and carried him with it higher up into the atmosphere. Looking down he saw the wielder of the weapon, it was his own mother! Chi-Chi had managed to locate her husband's old weapon and was using it with deadly efficiency. Not that she had any ideas of her help being useful, her only hope was if she could push Piccolo into the vacuum of space where the pressure change would cause him to burst like an overfilled balloon. It almost worked but unfortunately Piccolo's attack faltered and Daimao returned to full awareness. With a mental "slam" on the door that bridged their consciousnesses he turned back to the battle and casually slapped the Power Pole off of his body. This of course caused the Power Pole to be ripped from Chi-Chi's hands and send it flying to embed itself in a nearby mountain.

Looking down, his keen eyesight singled out the one who had nearly ended his life. Flying toward her faster than either she or Goten could see, he stopped with his left arm extended an inch away from her face, the winds produced by his sudden acceleration and stop tearing up trees in the path he traveled. Goten stood frozen with fear at the display of power and speed while Chi-Chi stared up into the eyes of the one who had killed her oldest son and within those eyes she could catch a trace of the real Piccolo, and knowing that he was tormented with grief just as much as she was she whispered, "We loved him Piccolo, we shared that much at least." And then she looked up into the glowing orb forming in the hand in front of her, closed her eyes, and knew that she would see Goku soon.

* * *

Goku clenched his fists as he witnessed Vegeta's conversion over to Buu's side while understanding at the same time what had happened to Piccolo. Judged by King Kai's reaction to Buu's unveiling then he must be incredibly powerful and dangerous, and from the brief spike he felt when Vegeta's attack was deflected with such ease he agreed. At the same time though he was relieved that one of his best friends had not actually killed Gohan in cold blood, he now knew that it must be killing Piccolo to be able to witness everything that was happening but was unable to do anything about it. In that way Goku could relate to the trapped Namekian. Goku couldn't help but feel pride though in the way Goten valiantly fought against Daimao, even though he hadn't even known he had existed until now he was proud to see Goten give his all. He was rooting for him and Piccolo too when Daimao started clutching at his head.

Goku's heart turned to ice though when he saw Chi-Chi get out his old Power Pole and aim it at Piccolo. As she braced herself and made her grip more secure he started trembling, his wife was going to throw her life away in something that might not even succeed. But when she extended the Power Pole and Piccolo was pushed higher and higher into the atmosphere he started to feel a glimmer of hope that she might still live when Daimao smacked it aside. King Kai stiffened under him as he noticed the significance of what might happen. Goku was already stretched thin by the events that had transpired, if Chi-Chi were to die Goku could very well go berserk and snap.

And he indeed did snap, when Chi-Chi spoke he let out a violent roar and underwent the most reckless power-up he had ever done in Otherworld. Going straight to the newly discovered form of Super Saiyan he locked onto Chi-Chi's ki and used Instant Transmission right as King Kai turned and shouted "No!" and right when Daimao released his blast.

* * *

Chi-Chi felt the heat, but the pain never came. Opening her eyes she was nearly blinded as her nighttime adjusted eyes were subjected to the most brilliant gold aura she had ever seen before. Bits of energy floated around her as the form in front of her flickered in and out of focus. Sometimes it would be completely opaque and the next instant it would be completely solid. Finally it seemed to snap into focus and she realized just who was in front of her. Goku stood before her, between her and Daimao, between her and the blast that had almost ended her life. His left hand held Daimao's outstretched arm in a crushing grip and his aura held the failed attack captive. Goku was powerful, much more powerful than Gohan had been, at first Daimao couldn't understand why but then he actually looked at the person who interrupted him.

The man in front of him wore a brilliant orange gi, an exact carbon copy of the one Goten was currently wearing as pajamas. His eyebrows were gone and his brows extended over his eyes giving him a look similar to Neanderthals. Golden spiked hair stretched down to the top of his waist with one persistent lock of hair dangling over his forehead. Lighting propagated from every part of his body and threatened to disintegrate anything that came near. And finally the last defining feature of the newcomer was the golden halo floating above his head.

Daimao could not understand where the stranger had come from but as he looked into his eyes he realized just who was in front of him. Not one to pass up a chance to gloat, Daimao immediately launched into a speech.

"So, it has really been so long since we have last seen each other _Goku_," Daimao spat his name out in obvious disgust, "however you are too late to save your son, but I guess you make all up for it by stopping me from killing your weakling wife. Shows how much you ca-"

He never got to finish his sentence as Goku's face contorted with rage and he landed a devastating right hook on Daimao's face. Only his instinctive use of the Kaio-Ken prevented his head from being separated from his shoulders. With his left hand still trapped though, he was prevented from flying off into the distance from the blows force. Instead Daimao's body rotated around his shoulder joint and carved a trench in the ground with his head. Daimao would have been killed outright were it not for the added durability granted to him by Buu.

Releasing the twisted remains of Piccolo's arm, Goku picked up Daimao by the throat and drove his left fist in an uppercut into his stomach. From Daimao's mouth spewed a mixture of saliva and purple blood as several internal organs were ruptured from the blow. Goku shoved Daimao forward lightly, of course with Goku's current strength this caused him to skid across the ground until his progress was stopped by a tree, and spoke.

"I'm going to kill you, I know you're in Piccolo's body and that he is still trapped inside but I'm sure he agrees that his death would be a necessary sacrifice in order to defeat you." And as if to agree with him, Daimao was mentally attacked once again by Piccolo, Kami, and Nail. Gritting his teeth, Daimao snarled at Goku.

"You are not going to defeat me again Goku, last time you only won due to sheer dumb luck. This time I will break all your limbs and your neck for good measure." Then as the wounds began to fade from his body and his left arm regenerated into its proper shape and size, his pale red aura manifested itself once more. Powering-up to his maximum, Daimao once more went to the level that had so easily defeated Gohan.

"Kaio-Ken times ten!" And as his aura exploded outwards, so to did Goku's and gold and red charged at each other in an earth shaking crash.

* * *

"Wake up." A soft whisper wormed itself into Gohan's ear. "Wake up." Now slightly louder it was annoying, but still ignorable. Gohan just wanted to sleep, to return to the dark place in his mind. "I said wake up!" The voice literally shouted at Gohan. With a jolt the teenager opened his eyes to find himself looking at the same darkness that pervaded his senses. The only difference was that now someone shared it with him.

"Bout time you finally acknowledged me. If it wasn't for me you'd be dead right now. Well, dead again at least." The owner of the voice revealed itself to be a short wizened old man who to Gohan's eyes looked like an extremely old version of Shin. Reaching out with his senses his eyes widened as he recognized it as akin to the barrier within the Z-sword.

"What do you mean again? I thought I did die?" Gohan asked the stranger.

"Actually you died three times, well, you would've been pronounced clinically dead three times by the standards here on Earth at least. So far I've been able to stabilize and bring you back each time, but without healing you won't last much longer." He said, stretching out his back as he did so.

"Well, um, thank you I guess." Gohan replied, his mind being slow to fully grasp what was happening. "And if you don't mind me asking, just who exactly are you?"

The old man's eyes narrowed at Gohan and his posture shifted. In fact it kind of reminded Gohan of Master Roshi whenever he was annoyed and tried to get his point across.

"What do you mean you don't know who I am! I'm the great Supreme Kai! Well fifteen generations ago at least but still! I was sealed in that sword that you happened to free back on Kaioshinkai over seventy-five million years ago, and through you wielding me I've been able to analyze your ki and memories. Because of that contact I've been able to save your life, it also helps that the sword landed on your body instead of somewhere else. If it hadn't then yes, you would be dead right now. The old Supreme Kai ranted at Gohan at first but almost immediately shifted gears and changed to a musing tone. It seems that like Master Roshi he was a bit scatterbrained at times.

"In fact, if you manage to survive this I can even help you out further. I possess a technique that allows me to draw out an individual's latent power, and from what I've gathered of you, you have the largest pool of power I have ever seen! Also a good thing you have used the sword for so long, normally with someone of your power it would take me a long time to get used to your ki and draw it out, but now I should be able to do it in a fraction of the time it would normally take. So count yourself lucky that I'm being so generous."

Realizing what the old man just offered, Gohan immediately bowed and started to thank him profusely, "Thank you sir that would be most generous of you. But if I may ask, what is your name and how would I be able to free you?"

Without missing a beat the old Kai responded, "My name is Rou. And all you have to do is break the seal. Break the sword or force me out, anyway is fine. I just want to stretch my legs, I've had leg cramps for the past twenty-four million years ago and they are killing me!"

"Okay sir, now just one more question. How do I wake up?" Gohan asked, looking down on Rou.

Rou just raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Hell if I know."

* * *

Power Levels:

Gohan:(Base) 125,478,000

Gohan:(Super Saiyan 2) 12,547,800,000

Piccolo Daimao:(Kaio-Ken times 10) 29,310,000,000

Goten:(Base) 1,015,000

Goten:(Super Saiyan) 50,750,000

Vegeta:(Super Saiyan 2) 11,290,100,000

Majin Vegeta:(Super Saiyan 2) 23,549,000,000

Goku:(Super Saiyan 3) 29,896,000,000

Chi-Chi: 63


	12. Decimation

Gohan stared at Rou, the latter's words echoing through his mind.

"So what you are saying is, I'm stuck here until I wake up?" Gohan asked.

"Or until ye die. Whichever comes first of course. Maybe your little green friend will come along and heal you. Or someone brings you a Senzu bean. Either one of those options will get you up and moving around in no time. If you die well you'll still be up and moving around just not on Earth." Rou responded.

Suddenly Gohan clutched at his chest and sank down to his knees, panting. The pain was excruciating, Gohan could literally feel his heart shredding itself on the intruding bone, the awareness over his own body that he felt sometimes kicking in at the worst opportunity.

"And it's starting again; well hopefully you won't be dead a fourth time. Well I'm off to work my magic, don't die! Tata." And with an audible pop, Rou vanished into thin air, leaving Gohan all alone in the black emptiness of his mind with only pain as a companion.

* * *

Shin sat next to a pond, meditating. Ever since Majin Buu had been destroyed several days ago Shin finally felt at peace. The trail for Babidi had gone cold but Shin doubted he could ever create something as sinister and powerful as Majin Buu so he was lax in his vigilance. His calm meditation was interrupted however when a loud voice shouted in his mind.

"Mr. Supreme Kai sir! A soul has escaped Otherworld and traveled into the living world. He is too powerful for us to contain though so we need you to help us. The soul is very distraught over his son's death and could easily go on a rampage, to make matters worse he is the most powerful soul here in Otherworld. We need your help!"

Shin vaguely recognized the owner of the voice to be the Grand Kai. Only on matters extremely important was he allowed to contact Shin and he knew it. With a sigh Shin got out of his meditative state and opened himself once more to the universe. As soon as he did, two immense power-levels registered in his mind, each almost three times as strong as Gohan. Gasping in shock, Shin quickly warped to Kibito who at the moment was currently taking a nap in a glade not to far from his location. Grabbing the deity in training, Shin shook him awake. If what he sensed was true, then these powers could easily cause as much damage as the late Majin Buu.

"Wake up Kibito. We have no time to lose my friend." Shin frantically spoke to his companion. Kibito woke with a start, his years of soldiering when he was alive took over and he was immediately on high alert. When a superior starts issuing orders it can come at any time so one has to be prepared, mentally and physically, and so the reflexes instilled in him hadn't completely died out in the millennia he had been in preparation.

"What is it master?" the red giant inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"An extremely powerful soul has escaped Otherworld and according to the Grand Kai, if sufficiently angered it could go on a rampage all across the universe. And unfortunately it's still living son was apparently killed so it is most likely very mad. Luckily right now it appears to be fighting something as equally powerful, though how these super powerful beings keep popping up over the universe I don't understand, and is occupied. I need you to make a crystal ball so we can see and access the situation." Shin explained to Kibito, his anxiety at the possibility of all his hard work unraveling getting to him.

Kibito complied without question, conjuring a crystal ball from the surrounding environments energy. Sure Shin could do the same, but most likely in the rush of emotion had forgotten that he could. Both sat down in front of the magical sphere and centered its focus onto the two energy signatures that invaded their minds. As the image came into focus, both gasped. They recognized Piccolo, but the unusual sadistic look on his face along with the black M on his forehead shocked them. The other fighter was unknown to the two, but Shin had a sinking feeling as to who it was. The golden hair and aura, the body shape, the halo over his head, and the orange and blue gi, all indicated one who had been very important to the safety of Earth. In fact Shin had even seen him in Otherworld when Gohan was first learning how to use the Instantaneous Movement technique. It was Goku, father to Gohan, and if the information from Grand Kai was correct then that could only mean one thing.

"That is Goku, Gohan's father. That must mean Gohan is dead, probably at Piccolo's hands. Kibito we need a broader picture, show a larger area around the fighters." Shin ordered, but Kibito was already doing so. Once Shin had said that it was Gohan's father he had put the pieces together. And to say he was saddened would be an understatement, during Gohan's stay on Kaioshinkai he had grown attached to the boy. Gohan had brought life to the planet and had given hope to Shin for the first time in a very long time.

The picture in the crystal ball zoomed out, and as it did so it revealed more and more. Gohan's broken body lying in his home, his distraught mother and brother watching a father and husband long dead fight to save them, and worst of all Vegeta floating next to a radically altered Majin Buu; suddenly it all made sense. From the way Vegeta was around Buu and the black speck they could barely make out on his forehead they could surmise that he too had been compromised. With his heart heavy, Shin reached out back to the Grand Kai.

"I'm afraid there is nothing we can do, as of right now Goku is our only hope. Majin Buu has returned and every other fighter who could stand up to him is either dead or turned. I'm afraid that Goku will have to stay among the living for now until we formulate a plan of action, that is my order." And without waiting for a reply, Shin terminated the connection.

"Master, I don't think that Gohan is actually dead, I can faintly sense him. It's faint but definitely alive, but I don't think for much longer. We could still have a chance if we heal him. What is your command?" Kibito said to Shin.

"Isn't it obvious? We go to Earth." Shin spoke, and the two left Kaioshinkai to be witness to Majin Buu's decimation of the universe.

* * *

"I killed your son! I killed your son!" Daimao shouted over and over as he and Goku fought in the skies above Mount Paozu. He grinned as each time he yelled it out, Goku got angrier and sloppier, his unforgiving rage clouding his vision. Phasing out of the way of a sidekick, Daimao laughed aloud at his enemy, mocking him. Finally Goku couldn't take it anymore and he returned the rants, giving into his hatred and blood lust.

"When I catch you Daimao, you will regret everything you have done. I will gut you with an honest to god smile on my face and I will paint Gohan's tombstone with your very blood!" Goku roared at the retreating form of Daimao.

Daimao merely laughed as he flickered in and out of sight, while above them the cloud cover was getting thinner and thinner, letting moonlight shine through to the ground below. Coming to a stop, he collected energy into his right hand and once satisfied, lobbed it at the golden warrior. Twisting his head in the direction the incoming blast Goku's face broke out into a twisted smile and bringing two fingers up to his forehead, disappeared right when the blast detonated against his skin. Like in the battle against Frieza, Goku escaped damage by outrunning the explosion, only this time through hyperspace.

He appeared inches away from Daimao's face, his twisted smile still in place. Daimao reflexively punched at Goku even as his head leaned back and his eyes widened. Goku's right hand sprang up and caught the fist, then twisting his body, he dragged Daimao's fist and arm around to the back of his body and then kicked him straight in the ass. As Daimao soared away from him, Goku instantly opened his mouth and unleashed an enormous beam of energy which engulfed his body. Goku broke out into insane laughter and phased away, no sooner had he done so, Daimao phased in front of the very spot he had occupied with an uppercut. But having expected to meet flesh, he overbalanced and before he could regain control Goku reappeared in front of him, shoved his outstretched arm out of the way, and drove his own uppercut successfully into Daimao's stomach.

Daimao's eyes bugged out as his body bent over Goku's fist. Not done yet though, Goku reached over with his free hand and dug into the flesh of Daimao's back and straightened his arm out to the side, releasing Daimao as he did so causing him to go into an uncontrolled spin. Goku kept up his advantage and rocketed over to Daimao, arms splayed to the side, pooling ki into each hand. Quickly catching up to Daimao, he rammed his left hand into the whirlwind of green and purple and unleashed his blast at pointblank range. The blast scythed through Daimao's lower body vaporizing both legs and pelvic region instantly cauterizing the flesh. Following up, Goku phased in front of Daimao, whose eyes were clenched tightly shut in both pain and to maintain the Kaio-Ken. Smiling, Goku drove the other energy laden hand into Daimao's abdomen and ripped it out through the side. Bringing his head in close, Goku whispered in Daimao's ear.

"I told you I would gut you, and in case you can't see it, I'm smiling." Daimao's eyes shot open and the two glared at each other, pain and anger in one, pure psychotic rage in the other. Daimao spit at Goku and as Goku went to wipe it away Daimao launched twin beams out of his eyes. They converged and impacted the space right between Goku's eyes forcing his head to snap back and his hands to fly up as he hissed in pain. Daimao reached up and latched onto Goku's shoulders and swung his body up and back away from him, his eviscerated lower body now perpendicular to Goku. With a grunt, he regenerated the lost appendages and organs and as he did so, his legs shot out and drove straight into Goku's stomach in a spray of green fluid.

Goku hunched over and clutched at his stomach, fighting to keep his recent meal down. Daimao phased away and reappeared a hundred meters away, trying to regain his breath and energy. He could've gone farther, but with Goku's ability to teleport any distance traveled would be moot and would only serve to tire him out further. 'No matter what I do he just keeps coming. This is the first major blow I've dealt him and I'm already exhausted. He's been all over me, I think it might be time to try and go higher.' Daimao thought, his mind racing to come up with a solution. Currently Goku was stronger than him, but the difference was small considering how strong they were but it was enough. Goku could punch just that much harder, could move just a little bit faster, it was enough to make Daimao want to tear Piccolo's antennae out. He was broken out of his reverie as Goku suddenly straightened up and yelled out to the possessed Namekian.

"You just keep running away, but you should realize there is no point. I'm going to win and you're going to lose. Normally at this point I would offer mercy and try to appeal to your better judgment but we both know you don't have a single shred of decency inside. I'm sorry Piccolo, but its time I end this farce." And with that Goku rocketed towards Daimao, crossing the distance between them in less than a nanosecond. But it was enough for Daimao. Before Goku had even finished speaking he had already prepared himself.

"Kaio-Ken times eleven!" Daimao screamed out and once again his dark sickly aura flared up, the deep crimson deepening into an almost bloodlike color. Catching Goku's outstretched fist, he turned it upwards and as he did so, twisted into a spinning sidekick which he planted on the bottom of Goku's chin. His head snapped back with much more force than it previously had, it would have snapped if it weren't for the fact that Goku was already dead. His neck searing with pain, Goku's eyes were now staring up into the sky upon which he saw the full moon floating exposed up in the sky. Goku felt a rush as the Blutz waves entered his eyes and got his blood pumping, the brain sending signals down into the glands in his absent tail in an attempt to metamorphose into the Oozaru state. His power increasing, Goku snapped his head forward in an audible crack as the bones popped, and with his left hand grabbed onto Daimao's still extended leg and yanked it towards him, as he did so he turned to the side so the leg was horizontal in front of him. Goku then smashed the elbow of his right arm down at the same time his right knee came shooting up and they both collided, with Daimao's knee square in between them.

Daimao howled in pain and in that moment lost his grasp on the Kaio-Ken, falling out of it completely and going limp. The pain receptors overwhelming all cognitive thought, it was at this moment that Piccolo once again fought against Daimao's mind and briefly won. Turning his head towards Goku he shouted out, "Goku! Kill me now, I beg of you as I have never done before. Kill me!" He all but pleaded with the deceased saiyan.

For the first time since he had been on Earth, Goku frowned, not an angry frown, but a sad frown. Piccolo had been his friend and had been very important to Gohan as well, but he would not soil his memory by letting Daimao cavort around in his body. His mind made up, Goku drew his hands to his side. Blue ki coalesced in each palm as the attack charged and combined. Once having gathered enough power that would kill Piccolo even if Daimao took back control and executed a multiplier of five with the Kaio-Ken, Goku said to Piccolo before he lost control, "I'm sorry Piccolo."

Bringing his hands forward, Goku shouted, "Kamehameha!" and with a roar the ki flooded out of his hands and towards Piccolo. It would never reach him. Buu appeared in between Goku and Piccolo and with a lazy brush of his hand, deflected the attack and sent it flying off harmlessly into the sky. Goku's eyes widened at the speed at which Buu moved, not knowing if it was teleportation or sheer speed that caused him to appear in front of him. With a yawn he pointed his antenna at Piccolo and in a flash of pink, a thin pink beam shot out and enveloped him, causing all wounds to heal and supplying him with a new change in wardrobe, a piece of armor identical to the one that Vegeta now wore as a sign of his status in Buu's service. Then he turned to face Piccolo and smiling at the look of sheer abject terror on his face, bent down and lightly flicked on the black M tattooed across his forehead. While physically this did nothing, mentally however Piccolo felt as if he were being flayed alive and the feeling radiated out from him to Nail and Kami as well and when he screamed, it was mixture of all three voices.

Daimao surged back into the front and reestablished control over Piccolo's body. Righting his body into a more appropriate angle, Daimao did a once over on his new look and bowed to Buu, a deep aristocratic that hinted at the pride and vanity Daimao possessed. Buu did not acknowledge the sign of respect but merely spoke.

"Vegeta will now be aiding you in your fight since you are having so much trouble. You will not turn down his aid, do you understand?" Buu commanded Daimao who merely nodded. Goku stayed back and observed, his instincts were screaming at him to attack but if he did he knew Buu would have no trouble erasing him from existence. Since he was dead he could survive any attack except those that completely destroyed his body. Dead people cannot die, but they can cease to exist as the spiritual energy that their bodies are composed of is returned to the universe.

Suddenly, two ki signatures appeared on Earth and were coming from the ruins of Goku's house. Buu turned back to Daimao and included Goku in his next statement, "Well if you excuse me I must visit our guests. You two carry on and don't forget to invite Vegeta to play." And with a mocking smile at Goku, Buu vanished from sight as he went to confront the two unknown individuals.

* * *

"Quickly Kibito, there is no time to waste. Heal him." Shin whispered fiercely to Kibito. Both had their ki suppressed as low as they could, but seeing as how it was never a skill that they had ever had to utilize before, it was still imperfect.

As Kibito bent down with his hands over Gohan's body, waves of healing energy pulsed out and washed over his body. The healing lasted for only two seconds as a pink beam of ki lanced out and pierced Kibito's heart, killing him instantly. Shin stared up in shock as the owner of the attack floated down to his level. Seeing him up close, Shin was now able to fully appreciate the changes that Majin Buu had gone through.

"You killed him. Why?" Shin stuttered out, petrified with fear.

Buu landed in front of Shin, Kibito's body lying behind him. Turning around, he seized Kibito's collar and threw him up into the air. Without even looking at his corpse he raised his hand and clenched it, causing Kibito's body to explode instantly. Seeing the stunned look on Shin's face he smiled.

"We can't chance him healing Gohan now can we? And I had to make sure he wouldn't pop up from the dead from some bizarre use of Kai magic." He spat out the word Kai as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "Now to do the same with you." And before the words fully registered in Shin's mind, Buu's fist was in front of his face, twitching erratically. Looking up, Shin was amazed to see how strained Buu's face was. Gritting his teeth, the fake veins stood out in Buu's head, each 'muscle' was taut and he shook with exertion.

"Why…can't I… hit you?" He stuttered out. "I'm the most powerful being in the universe, both physically and magically. There is nothing you should be able to do to stop me. So why can't I hit you!" Buu screamed this last part out, steam pouring out of the pores along his arms and head. He thrashed around, hoping that in his frenzy of flailing limbs that one would manage to connect with Shin and end his life. None connected though, each stopping just the barest distance from Shin's body. Shin stood still, amazed at this new development. During his last battle with Buu, right before he had absorbed the Grand Supreme Kai, he had no qualms about using him as his own personal punching bag. But this, this was new and Shin had a thought as to why, but he wisely kept it silent lest Buu do something drastic.

Looking down at Gohan, he saw that Kibito's ministrations, brief they were, had managed to bring him back from the brink of death and that if he could lure Buu away, then Gohan might have a chance. Seeing the twitching in his face that hinted at a foray into consciousness, he knew he had to act fast. Gathering his ki, Shin shot up into the air at full speed and flew away as fast as he could from the battlefield. Buu's fist finally met the area that Shin had inhabited and his elation quickly turned to annoyance when he realized the only reason it had done so was because Shin was gone. Turning his gaze up at the fleeing god, he frowned before he burst into the air, going faster than Shin but allowing him to keep his current lead. Buu would enjoy the chase for now and until he figured out a way to be able to hit the Kai then it was all he would be able to do.

* * *

"Good news Gohan, your heart is no longer a mangled piece of flesh, but whole and functioning once more." Rou announced as he popped into Gohan's subconscious.

"How did you manage to do that Rou?" Gohan inquired still lying in the position he had assumed when the pain had become too much. Earlier he had sunk to his knees under the barrage of pain emanating outwards from his chest and had just tried to hold on.

"Don't look at me I didn't do it, your friend Kibito did. It only lasted for a bit but it was enough though. Now just wake up already!" Rou shouted at Gohan, his impatience at being stuck in the sword finally coming out now that there was a possibility for him to be freed.

"And once again I shall ask you oh great Supreme Kai of old. How the hell am I supposed to?" Gohan asked, exasperated with the old mans attitude. Rou frowned at stared at Gohan before sighing.

"No respect for your elders. I guess I have to do everything now don't I." He leaned in close to Gohan's face, staring intently into his eyes. "Wake up!" He screamed at the boy. And through the exercise of his abilities, the message traveled from his subconscious and into his higher level of thought.

With a start, Gohan shuddered into awareness, his body felt completely wrecked, all the power-ups and violent take offs from around him having damaged his body even further, but at least it was better than what it had previously been. Opening his eyes, Gohan looked up into the sky, into the cloudless sky, and suddenly wished that he was still unconscious. There was a full moon in the sky, and he had his tail. Gohan felt his newly restored heart beat stronger; soon it was the only thing he could hear, the blood rushing through his body with such force that it would have torn apart the insides of a human. Gohan could faintly hear Rou yelling out in joy as energy rushed through his body, aided by the glands in his tail. Even more so he could feel Rou using that energy to further heal the damage done to his body. Flesh knit back together, bones straightened and repaired. His broken right tibia straightened out and healed correctly, as Rou used a combination of muscle and energy to force the bone back into alignment so it would heal properly. All this took place in the span of time a Saiyan feels before the transformation truly takes hold. Like the calm before a storm though, it would not last. Pain ripped through Gohan's body once more as it reconfigured itself violently. Gohan felt pure bestial fury entrench itself into his mind and would have lost himself, as he had done so when he was a mere child of five, were it not through the training he had gone through to master the second level of Super Saiyan.

His body growing at a massive scale, Gohan soon outgrew the confines of the crater he resided in and into his house. Brown fur sprouted over his body only to turn golden as if on some instinctual level, his body was powering up to the highest level it could go to. Gohan fought to keep control but was losing ground as the beast grew stronger and stronger, the power of the Super Saiyan transformation feeding it. Shunted back down to the depths of his subconscious, Gohan was shocked to see Rou still there with a massive grin stretched across his face. Even more surprising to Gohan was the fact that he was clapping.

"You have no idea what level of power you are about to achieve kid, so I suggest you sit back and enjoy the ride." Rou said as he faded away, the connection breaking up as the Z-sword fell away from Gohan's growing body.

* * *

Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha flew in a skein formation, with Tien in the middle and Krillin and Yamcha feeding off of the lift from the air being displaced by Tien's body. Krillin's wife Eighteen flew above them, using her sensors to scout ahead for any danger. Each felt the enormous ki that belonged to Goku and were relieved to sense it, even if they were puzzled as to how he was here considering he was supposed to be dead. Tien was serious as he contemplated the change and rise in both Piccolo and Vegeta's signatures. Piccolo's was completely different than it had been before; in fact it was more similar to that of his father's than his norm. And Vegeta's just felt like it did back when he first arrived on Earth with Nappa, but even more tainted and vile. Vegeta was never fully evil; if he had been then the Spirit Bomb would have completely destroyed him, even with the loss of power it obtained when Goku lost the majority of his hold on it. And the foreign ki that flickered at the edges of their awareness baffled them, several times they had felt it spike up, the first being when Vegeta's signature had changed, and each time it had done so it broke through the boundary of what each fighter had felt was possible.

"So what do you think we will be able to do Tien, I mean we all know that the Saiyans and Piccolo outclass us by far, hell even Trunks can take us all on with no problem. What's the plan of action?" Yamcha asked a bit pessimistically. In fact he mirrored Krillin's own thoughts as well, the last time he had been of any use was during the fight against Garlic Jr. and he was thrown around like a rag doll.

"Hit and run Yamcha, if we can distract Piccolo and Vegeta for even an instant then it could give Goku the opening he needs to end it. I don't know if you two have sensed it but Piccolo and Vegeta have changed. Judging by the way this unknown ki spiked up when Vegeta's signature went loco, I think it's safe to say that he has been affected in a way similar to Garlic Junior's Black Water Mist and is against us, same as Piccolo.

Suddenly, a purple and blue blur rushed past them, going so fast that Eighteen's sensors registered it a full second after he was gone. Only Krillin kept his wits as to why someone would be moving that fast.

"Scatter!" he yelled and not a moment to soon. As soon as they had done so, Majin Buu came roaring past, his aura filled with so much energy that it would have barbequed them all. After traveling for three miles more, the pursuing energy stopped, and then rebounded. It's course of direction, straight for them.

Buu stopped instantly in front of the three human fighters; the force of his stop tore up the forest beneath them as the displaced air continued forward. Buu had no desire to participate in damage control; he would take every chance he could to flaunt his power.

The three floated nervously, ready in case Buu decided to attack. Each knew though that they would have no chance against him if he chose to do so. Even Eighteen would be destroyed in a blink of an eye against this threat, and so she stayed hidden up in the atmosphere. Or so she thought. A brief flash of pink and suddenly, Buu was hovering in the exact same spot with one difference, Eighteen's throat was held captive in his grasp. Smiling at the look of sheer abject terror on her face and the anger on Krillin's, Buu tossed her towards her husband, only destroy her with an extremely concentrated ki ball.

Krillin froze, the scene replaying over and over in his mind, the look on his wife's face as she faced him, the blinding flash of her destruction, and the ache in his heart. The stress would have caused a weaker man to crumble, to break, but Krillin was anything but weak. Throwing both hands up into the air, Krillin formed a solid disk above them. Then throwing both arms out to the side, perpendicular to his body, he split the disk into two. With a savage war cry he charged the pink monstrosity and swung his right arm in a descending arc across Buu's body. The Kienzan parted Buu's flesh which sealed up as soon as the attack passed. Krillin kept swinging his twin Kienzans, hoping to cause some form of permanent damage.

Unable to take seeing Krillin attack Buu alone, Yamcha joined in. flying to a spot directly above Buu, Yamcha collected ki into both hands and started throwing it at Buu in a barrage of ki. And through the onslaught, Buu just stood there, assessing each and every hit. He noted that Tien had not attacked but pegged it down to the triclops being afraid. What he didn't know was that Tien had a separate plan of attack all together. When he had sensed Piccolo first change, he had thought back to his first experience with Piccolo's family, specifically, his father. Tien had attempted to use the Mafuba wave to seal Piccolo Daimao away once more, and would have succeeded were it not for the demon's malformed child taking the attack for him. And so before leaving his home, Tien had grabbed a capsule containing a rice-cooker, which for some strange reason appeared to be the apparatus of choice when utilizing the Mafuba.

Tien split his form into two, utilizing the Multi-Form technique to do so. Popping the capsule, he threw it to the clone who caught the rice-cooker as it was released in a puff of smoke. Tien wouldn't trust going down to the ground to place the cooker, with the unevenness of the terrain it could shut prematurely thus dooming them all, Tien saw it happen to Master Roshi a long time ago, it cost the old man his life as the Mafuba left him drained to much to sustain his life. His clone would maintain the position required for the Mafuba anyway and would be anchored much more securely against the wind and gravity.

Finally having grown bored of Krillin and Yamcha, Buu flared his power, the winds produced by it overwhelming the two humans and sending them in an uncontrolled flight away from the monster. As he did so, Buu heard a voice cry out, "Mafuba!'

Turning towards the sound, Buu was surprised to see a green cyclone of energy rush towards him, the originator of the attack being the third human he had dismissed earlier. Buu decided to humor the man, seeing as he was exponentially more powerful than him that no harm would come. He was wrong, upon the attacks impact Buu felt all of his power drain from him, being sucked into and along the attacks pathway. He tried to resist, but the more ki he put out, the stronger the Mafuba got and the weaker he became. Finally, unable to resist the attack anymore, he was sucked into the attack and traveled through the cyclone, spinning along with it.

With Buu snared, Tien thrust down his extended arms and aimed at the rice-cooker. With a final cry of rage, Buu was deposited into the container where immediately Tien's clone closed it, sealing the demon within. Krillin and Yamcha quickly flew up to Tien while he rejoined with his clone, their expressions somber. While Krillin was glad that Buu wouldn't be able to trouble them anymore, he was saddened by the death of his wife. Krillin was still in a state of shock, otherwise he would be having a mental breakdown. He had died twice, but nothing could have prepared him for the sheer emptiness he felt.

Yamcha echoed those feelings, not for the connection he had with Eighteen, but for the connection he shared with Krillin. There would be only one woman for him but she was forever out of his reach, and so he shared the joy his friends felt, doomed to be a bachelor, a lone wolf.

"I can't believe it worked." Yamcha said, his voice low. They had won, but they had lost as well.

"We aren't done yet, there is still Vegeta and Piccolo to worry about." Tien said, assuming command of the group.

"Trunks is coming." Krillin whispered. Yamcha and Tien looked at each other, each knowing without speaking what the other was thinking.

"Krillin, its okay, we can bring her back. You should go home to Marron, we'll handle things here." Yamcha said, Tien silently affirming by nodding his head.

"Yeah, I should. You guys take care okay, be careful." Krillin said monotonously, his head downcast. Turning around, he locked onto Master Roshi's ki, and took off, flying away at full speed.

"Do you think we can control Trunks?" Yamcha questioned Tien. "I mean his father did go over to 'the dark side.' I wouldn't believe it if I was in his shoes."

"I think the kid knows his father enough to recognize that the one he is sensing isn't the real Vegeta. We did and we don't live with the guy." Said Tien, looking down at the rice-cooker in his arms as he spoke.

"Okay if you say so, should we intercept him?"

"No, as fast as he's going he's going to be there in no time. Best thing to do is get there now and see what we can do."

"One more thing Tien."

"What?"

"We aren't going to live through the night are we?" Yamcha's scarred face grinned over at Tien.

Tien's grin answered Yamcha's, "Not a chance, but I'm not going down without a fight." And with that they took off towards the battle, not caring that both Vegeta and Piccolo would try and kill them. Not caring that Gohan's power was increasing at a phenomenal rate. Not noticing the fine cracks appearing in the rice-cooker.

* * *

"Now you die Kakarot!" Vegeta screamed out as he fired a hastily prepared Final Flash at Goku. Goku slapped it aside before diving to the side in order to avoid Daimao's hyperextended fist.

Suddenly, an incredibly loud roar rent through the air, stopping the three super-powered fighters in their tracks. Turning around Goku gasped in shock. Where his house used to stand was now a giant golden Oozaru, literally pulsing with power. Ki rolled off its form in waves as it stood bathed in the Blutz waves reflected by the moon. Stretching out his senses, Goku checked to see if his family was safe. Sensing they were several miles away, Goten's ki was strong and alert while his wife's was a maelstrom of emotion, fear mixing with sadness and delight.

"I guess the brat wasn't as dead as we thought." Said Vegeta, a feral grin etched across his face.

Instantly Goku's mind remembered back to when he first fought Vegeta and how he had transformed into an Oozaru. He had worn the same grin before he had transformed and judging by how much Gohan's power increased then Vegeta's boost would be unreal. Seeing the fear on Goku's face made Vegeta's smile get even bigger and he laughed as he threw his head back and stared up into the sky, directly at the moon.

Goku didn't wait to see Vegeta transform, he charged him immediately hoping to prevent it from happening. Halfway to him though, Daimao fazed in between them and chopped to the right with his right arm, the attack striking Goku and sending him soaring through the night sky. Stopping his momentum with his ki, Goku's shoulders sagged as he knew that nothing would stop Vegeta's transformation. Waiting for the telltale roar to fill the air, he looked over in the saiyan's direction, picking him out with his keen eyesight even though miles separated them and was astonished to see that no transformation had taken place.

Confused, Goku mentally went over the checklist for the Oozaru transformation. Vegeta had his tail and the moon was full, the exact same things that Gohan had and he had transformed with no trouble. So what was the difference? Suddenly Goku understood, Buu's mind-control must be blocking it somehow. Maybe the alteration in brain-chemistry prevented his brain from releasing the hormones needed for the transformation. It was all speculation at this point, Goku now wished he had paid more attention to his races heritage when he had interacted with the various saiyans in heaven. Some had explained quite extensively how some of their bodily functions were carried out.

Bringing his fingers up to his forehead, he warped over to Vegeta's location, emerging into the space in front of the confused prince. Before his eyes had even widened fully, Goku grabbed onto Vegeta's face and flew directly towards the ground. With a yell, Goku brought Vegeta down to smash heavily into the ground, his body caving the ground in down almost down to the Earth's mantle. Goku had held back purposely on that strike, he didn't want Vegeta to do, not if he could still be saved.

Ever since the prince had joined the fight between him and Daimao, Goku had been kept on his toes. While he and Daimao were more or less even, he far outclassed Vegeta in a one-on-one fight. But with the two working together, he had to be constantly vigilant lest one of them surprise him in a sneak attack. This is what saved him as he sensed an attack heading straight for him. With his hand still holding onto Vegeta's face, Goku flew across the ground dragging the prince with him right as an orange spiraled beam pierced the Earth right where he was previously was. Rising up into the air, Goku followed the path of the Makankosappo to its owner.

Daimao floated a ways away, unaware of the danger behind him. Goku smiled at Daimao's ignorance of his surroundings, a foolish mistake, something Piccolo would never do. An almighty clap echoed out across the landscape as Gohan's giant hands smashed together in a clapping motion on Piccolo's body. Instantly he died, the regenerative core in his head reduced to pulp along with the rest of his body. Staring at the green and purple paste now covering his hands, Gohan fried them away as his body released another wave of ki, infinitesimally small to him, but large enough to cause serious damage to anything caught near him.

Goku shook his head at Daimao's stupidity, not only did it cost him his own life, but the lives of Piccolo, Nail, and Kami. Vegeta suddenly came alive in his grasp, twisting his body up and ramming his knee into Goku's stomach. It had no effect, the difference in their respective powers being too great to overcome, especially when Goku had been expecting it. If it was a sneak attack then it probably would have had an effect then, but not now.

Turning his gaze down upon Vegeta, Goku released him from his grasp and thrust his hand out at the prince, a kiai bowling him over. Before Vegeta could right himself, Goku charged, fist outstretched towards him. As he impacted him though, Goku passed right through him. Vegeta didn't move or anything, Goku just passed through him. Looking down at his hands, Goku was astounded to see that he could see right through them. In fact Goku could see through every part of himself.

"What's, what's happening to me?" Goku questioned out loud, and was scared to hear his own voice echo and waver, like wind through the trees. Analyzing himself, Goku noticed his energy was dropping fast. Thinking fast, Goku blindly warped to the nearest celestial ki he could find, hoping to get to Otherworld as quickly as possible. Instead he appeared in front of the Supreme Kai, who was still flying as fast as he could with his eyes shut tight.

"Stop!" Goku cried out to the fleeing god, "Something is wrong with me!"

Shin was so surprised to hear a voice not belonging to Majin Buu that he immediately stopped dead in his tracks. Turning his head, he saw a very insubstantial Goku floating in the air, and he was losing substance even more. Realizing what was happening, Shin quickly got next to Goku and grasped the only tangible part left, his halo. With that done, Shin then warped directly into Otherworld, not caring where he was just picking a spot randomly. Upon entrance Goku immediately faded out of Super Saiyan Three and collapsed onto his knees, gasping air into his lungs.

"What… happened?" Goku managed to choke out from his position on the tiled floor.

Shin gazed around his surroundings, the area they were in looking exactly the same as space except for the floor they were standing on. In fact the Grand Kai had a room just like this on his planet, it was used for holding the Otherworld Tournament that he hosted every so often.

"Your body started feeding on itself to maintain a physical presence. If you had stayed in the living realm any longer, you would've become no more than a ghost. As you no doubt already know, your dead body is made entirely out of energy, without Otherworld to sustain it, eventually your body will turn on itself to meet its demands and when you run out, well you lose your body." Shin said once he was done looking around.

"Oh, well thanks for bringing me back. I don't think existing as a ghost would be much fun other than scaring people." Goku said with a cheeky grin, his exhaustion getting the better of him.

"It was nothing, do you know if Gohan is still alive?" Shin asked the dead warrior.

"Yes he is, last I saw him he was a giant golden ape and he had just killed Piccolo in one hit, just after I felt Majin Buu's ki disappear."

"Majin Buu's ki disappeared!" Shin exclaimed incredulously.

"Yep, right after he met Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha. Somehow they either defeated him or he ran, I don't know which."

"No, Buu wouldn't run, they must have done something to him." Shin stated, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah, those guys can be pretty resourceful. Krillin's saved our butts more times than I can count."

"If you say so, but I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Majin Buu yet. Rest up and get your energy back, you're in no condition to be doing anything right now." Shin said, Goku nodded in agreement and relaxed flat on the floor, eager for some rest.

* * *

Gohan stared at his hands, the green insect had meant something, something important. Bringing his hands up to his nose he sniffed, the great olfactory bulbs in his brain analyzing every scent that wafted up his nostrils. The insect's smell brought a sense of warmth and comfort, of home, wherever that was. Gohan turned and scanned the sky, looking for anything out of the ordinary in his territory. Seeing a great big golden light and two smaller white ones over to his right, Gohan growled and started to walk over to them. As he did he saw another golden light, much smaller than the other, come into view. Gohan's eyes narrowed, now he knew that these things were coming into his territory on purpose. Lifting his arms up into the air, Gohan roared and beat his chest, issuing a challenge to anything near by to a fight to claim his territory.

Opening his maw, he gathered ki and released it in a giant torrent through the air towards the lights. The giant golden one dodged and fired a blue orb at him which exploded harmlessly against his chest. Gohan roared, he knew the answer to a challenge when he saw one.

* * *

Power Levels:

Yamcha: 1,301,000

Tien: 38,200,000

Krillin: 19,542,000

Gohan(Pre-Zenkai): 125,478,000

Gohan(Post-Zenkai): 137,221,000

Gohan(Golden Oozaru): 68,610,500,000


	13. Imperium

"Holy shit! I thought Oozarus were supposed to be brown not gold!" Yamcha exclaimed as they witnessed Gohan take Vegeta's Big Bang Attack without flinching.

"It's like he's a Super Saiyan, an Oozaru Super Saiyan." Said Tien, awed by the power emanating from Gohan.

The two human fighters floated high above the battlefield several miles away from the two saiyans. Tien still held the rice-cooker in his grasp but hadn't looked at it in a while, which allowed the ever growing cracks to go unnoticed and unimpeded. At the current rate of growth, Buu would be free from his prison within the hour. Wanting to help in any way they could, they both starting flying towards the fight.

"I don't feel so good." Yamcha said, his face pale and sweaty. Covering his mouth with his hands, Yamcha in vain tried not to vomit. Unable to resist, Yamcha unloaded down to the forest below.

"What the hell Yamcha, you were fine just a minute ago. Why didn't you say you were ill?" Tien said in disgust.

"That's the thing, I was fine. But as we got closer and closer to Gohan my body started to feel like shit."

"Well I feel fine; it's probably all in your head. Calm down and you'll feel better in no time."

Tien didn't wait for a reply, blasting off towards Gohan and Vegeta. Krillin had told stories of how Goku had managed to calm Gohan down when they first fought Vegeta and if he was lucky then maybe Tien could do the same. As he flew over the trees he heard Yamcha start to follow as the man apparently got over his own sickness. Five seconds later they were three miles closer to the battle and would have kept going were it not Yamcha falling out of the sky.

Turning around, Tien saw Yamcha spiral out of the sky with blood pouring out of his nose. Tien reached out to Yamcha with his senses and was shocked to find that his power was dropping fast. Swooping down to catch Yamcha before he hit the ground, Tien's vision blurred and he started to feel vertigo. Looking down to try and find a clearing, Tien noticed Goten and Chi-Chi not to far from where he was. Goten was easy to spot, the kid was still a Super Saiyan and his aura lit up the area around him, not nearly as much as Gohan and Vegeta's did but enough to give Tien a visual. Clutching Yamcha in one hand and the rice-cooker in the other, Tien floated down to where Goten was at.

Tien barely managed to set Yamcha down onto the grass before he began to dry heave. He observed that Chi-Chi was also out cold with a puddle of vomit next to her head and that Goten had his head between his knees and was rocking back and forth. Tien looked up and was barely able to see Gohan's hulking form above the treetops. As another wave of power pulsed out from the transformed teen, Goten moaned and Tien saw the world spin around his head. Realizing that it was Gohan's power that was causing the feelings of sickness in everyone, Tien made a decision, turning towards Goten he spoke.

"Goten, we need to get your mom and Yamcha out of here. We can't stay here any longer or they may get worse. We should head back to Master Roshi's where it's safer."

"Okay." Like any sick child, Goten's voice was morose and he was eager to get away to feel better. Goten was so out of it that he had never noticed the condition his mom was in until he walked over to pick her up. Goten gasped and hurriedly scooped her up, cradling her as if she would break at any moment.

"It's okay Mom, you'll be better in no time just stay nice and still." Goten cooed at his mother like she was a sick injured animal he had found. Goten had no idea how to treat sick people so he went with the best alternative. Checking to see if his mother was secure, Goten slowly ignited his aura. Seeing Tien grab Yamcha and the rice-cooker, Goten gave the older man a quick nod then slowly lifted into the air. Tien held back in no such way and blasted off into the air, knowing that Yamcha's body would be able to take the stress easily. Goten was much slower, being afraid to hurt his mother. What Goten didn't know was that his aura would protect his mother from the winds and that he could cushion the accelerating and decelerating forces with his energy. This would prevent his mother being tossed around like a ragdoll and enable her to survive.

As he slowly made his way to Master Roshi's, following the ki trail left behind by Tien, Goten noticed Trunks flying in hot, his Super Saiyan aura blazing around him, towards his father. The boys face was an indifferent mask, his eyes were steely though. Trunk's was angry, his father was gone and in his place was an unknown man. Goten could pick up on this all as Trunk's sped past him, his speed such that Goten almost missed him. Turning to watch, Goten was amazed to see his brother brush Vegeta off to the side and run towards him, not as a man runs, but as a gorilla knuckle walks. His dizziness increasing, Goten tore his gaze away from his approaching brother and took off, holding his mothers head to his chest as he accelerated away from his brother, whose howls could be heard for miles around.

* * *

Gohan stopped and stared at the receding light. His arms hung limply at his sides and he plopped down onto his rear, his tail making a curved S shape behind him. He was confused as to why his family left, the troop falling apart. He could sense his brother's fear and the weakness in his mother, the matriarch of the troop. He was concerned, as the eldest and strongest male it was his duty to protect his family and territory, but it seemed he had failed. The second golden light grew closer and as it nearly passed him, Gohan reached out and grasped it. Bringing it up to his face, Gohan recognized the child as part of his extended family. Grumbling deep in his belly as a sign of contention, Gohan placed the struggling child on top of his shoulder and patted him gently on the head, causing him to crouch down and hold still. Looking in the direction the rest of the troop had left, Gohan got back to his feet and started to walk, but didn't get far. Sensing a disturbance in the air, Gohan turned and saw the other golden light come flying directly at his face.

Growling at the challenger, Gohan angled his body away from the man, exposing his free shoulder why obstructing the one with Trunk's on it. Reaching up, Gohan lightly swatted the man out of the air. The light was sent flying for a couple of miles before it stopped and came back. It fired several ki blasts at Gohan who lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the onslaught. Feeling the weight leave his shoulder, Gohan gave several staccato grunts and reached for the child but missed. The child flew straight towards the other light and Gohan felt fear that it would get hurt. Running after him, Gohan kept grunting out at the child, hoping it would come back to safety. He quickly outpaced him though and went straight up to the light.

"Dad, please snap out of it!" Trunks yelled at his bruised father.

Vegeta merely stared down at his son, a frown stretched across his face as he did so. Trunks, not seeing the unspoken warning, crept closer knowing that his time was running out before Gohan caught up to him. He had been more than a little frightened when Gohan first grabbed him, the sheer amount of power he exuded and his large form scarring him. But when Gohan merely placed him on his shoulder and rumbled he had been mesmerized in amazement. Gohan was acting just like a gorilla did when it was content, in fact Gohan kept exhibiting gorilla like behavior as he shielded him from his father's wild attacks. Trunks had actually laughed when Gohan grunted after him, just like a gorilla does when it disciplines a youngster which is what he must seem to him.

"Dad please stop this, you're not like this," he pleaded, "just come home to Mom with me and stop this fighting. There is nobody to fight Da-"

"That's where you're wrong boy!" Vegeta yelled at Trunks. "Don't you have any saiyan blood in you! You were a mistake to whelp in the first place, just as useless as your whore of a mother. Get out of my way before I kill you." And with that, Vegeta reached back and struck Trunks, sending the child flying straight down to the ground unconscious.

Instantly his eyes widened and he gasped. His mouth opened and closed in shock as if he just realized what he had done, Vegeta started to shake his head wildly, but before anything could happen, a violent and angry scream of pure bestial fury filled the air.

Gohan charged at the light, he had seen the man strike a member of his family and cause great damage. As he charged he screamed again, the scream a sign of his anger. Jumping up into the air in front of the light, Gohan swung his arms down trying to smash the pathetic man in front of him, the name Vegeta popped into his mind before he dismissed it. Vegeta was just a phrase, a word, it didn't mean anything.

Gohan's large fists struck true and the man fell down to the ground, the strange stuff covering his body shattering and a piece of it went flying by Gohan's face but he ignored it. Gohan fell down several miles down into the crater he created, roaring and screaming the whole way down. He landed with a crash, the man's body lying broken in front of him, still emitting that golden light. Bringing his arms up, Gohan started to repeatedly smash down on the man who hurt his family. Gohan had killed the green insect who had smelled like home for firing an attack at his father, a person who Gohan's senses registered as dead while his eyes registered as alive, so in a form of higher thought Gohan treated him as alive and so had killed the insect.

The man's scent wafted up to fill his nostrils as Gohan's fists beat down on him, the scent immediately made him pause. Like with the insects scent it was familiar and smelled of comfort, it was also the scent of a rival adult, but not one to fight with. Family.

Gohan stopped beating the prone figure, the light had faded and the man's hair had turned black. Gohan's own light filled the crater as he stared down at him. The man was family, but an enemy. The word Vegeta once more flashed through his mind and as it did so to did the image of a pink creature. It was fat and stood before a ruined city laughing. Gohan saw the golden man through a haze of gold and lightning as he attacked the pink creature. Gohan saw the view shift as if he too were moving and saw arms come into view holding a large reflective stick. A sword, the knowledge entered his mind and stayed there this time, the stick was called a sword. And it was the Z-sword. The scene shifted and this time Gohan looked upon the stick but this time it was in a rock, again arms came into view and one touched the ground next to the stone while the other touched the handle. The hilt it was called. Gohan knew that two others were beside him as in a flash of light and ki the sword was freed. Now Gohan was atop a platform, the green insect and Vegeta were there as well as the troop matriarch, his mother, Chi-Chi flashed into knowing as too did Piccolo. Anger rushed through him as he stared at the two beings in front of him, it felt as if they were to blame for something. It was only as the view shifted to look at everyone present did Gohan realize his brother was missing. A large greenish blond haired man stood before him, his large physique completely dwarfing the child held in his grasp. With a jolt Gohan realized the man's hand was completely through the child's chest. Goten, his brother. Gohan no longer resisted the flow of information but delved into it. The images rushed forward now at incredible speed, Goten's death, Broly's death, the seven years of peace before that, Bojack and his gangs invasion of Earth, his father's death, Broly again, the Cell Games, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, androids, Frieza's return, Garlic Junior poisoning the planet, Frieza, Namek, Vegeta again and a large brute named Nappa, Gohan's uncle Raditz, his father being struck down by his uncle. Gohan's home, Garlic Junior kidnapping him, his mother's smiling face, a crib with chubby arms sticking straight up as his mother, grandfather, and father looked down at him, a large bright light blooming into existence, then darkness and warmth.

Gohan suddenly realized who he was and as he did he clutched at his head and roared out in pain. His form started to shrink as his power skyrocketed. Bones shrunk and reconfigured their arrangement, fur darkened into a dark reddish tone, Gohan's snout shrinking and morphing into a more human shape. Shrinking down into a human form, Gohan subconsciously used his energy to shift the elements in the air around him to form into the appearance of the pants he had last worn, his dark blue gi pants. His transformation complete, Gohan looked down at his body, admiring himself.

No longer did his body radiate enormous energy freely out into the environment, now it was all tightly compacted into his body. Gohan realized that he no longer felt a drain on his body, all of the previous Super Saiyan forms drained energy no matter how naturally it felt and conditioned his body was to the transformed state. This new form felt as natural as his base, and Gohan had complete control over it. A chuckling reached his ears and it came from the broken mass of flesh in front of him. Gohan was shocked at the fact the prince had managed to survive. Gohan fully remembered the beating he had delivered to Vegeta when in his transformed state. The prince was imbedded fully into the rock, this is what saved him as his body was perfectly level with the ground. The ground absorbed most of the damage from Gohan's fists but not enough. Vegeta gasped and laughed, a self-mocking laugh, blood bubbled out from his lips as blood flooded his lungs.

"All this time… I thought the saiyan in… the ancient story… was… weak.… Being destroyed by… his own… power while we… mastered it so easily… it was outrageous… but now I see different. We weren't Super Saiyans… not in the sense we believed anyway… I should've paid attention… to the old tale… 'A being who could… only maintain his… power… in a transformed state.… His very power… destroyed… the original… Planet Vegeta… as it consumed… him….' You, Gohan… are the first… Super Saiyan… in the entirety of existence… you controlled it… when the first… could not. Save my son… from others like me… and tell Bulma… that I'm sorry… and that… I…lo-."

The prince's sentence was broken off by a gasping and as blood spewed from his mouth, he convulsed. Any normal man or saiyan would have died by now, but Vegeta was legendary for his determination and resolve.

"Tell her… that… I… love her."

"I will Vegeta, I will protect her and Trunks with my life." Gohan said, the words uttered from his mouth impacted the soil and punched it in, his very voice saturated with energy.

A sigh was his only answer, and Vegeta's body visibly relaxed in front of him. Vegeta's heart gave one final beat and then stopped. The Prince of all Saiyans passed from this world, and he did so with a smile on his face.

Gohan stooped down and picked up the prince. As he did so, the last remnants of Buu's armor fell off. In a final cleansing of the prince, Gohan fashioned new saiyan armor out of the air around them and formed it around Vegeta's body. In a statement to his royalty, Gohan attached a cape to it. And in a final form of respect, Gohan gathered ki into his palm, and forcibly fused the atoms of the air inside it, into the atomic structure of pure gold, and molded it into a necklace embossed with a setting sun on it, gold to reflect the character within, and the Super Saiyan he was. Placing the necklace around Vegeta's neck, Gohan spoke.

"The last full-blooded saiyan passes on, but his legacy will live. Vegeta you were royalty and you shall go to Otherworld represented as such. Vegeta, you were a Super Saiyan, and you now bear its sign. Your sun has set prince, but your moon will rise."

Gohan finished what he felt was a proper saiyan eulogy and bent down and picked up the prince. The ugly M was still tattooed across his forehead but it could not be helped. Hopefully King Yemma would take into consideration Vegeta's forced manipulation and treat him fairly. In fact this event would probably not affect Vegeta's station in Otherworld at all considering he didn't actually do anything evil, he didn't kill anybody, and Gohan knew that for sure considering he could still sense Trunks.

Lifting up into the air, Gohan phased over to where Trunks was lying. Turning around, Gohan was amazed to see how much his perception had increased. Gohan looked directly at the area where he just was and could see his afterimage, in fact he could see every afterimage along the path to where he was. Gohan was going so fast that it appeared that time had literally stopped and everything existed at the same time. Gohan shook his head and bent down, there would be time for thinking later. Stopping right before he touched Trunks, Gohan trickled out energy into the child just like he had during the battle with Broly. Gohan had to be careful not to completely overwhelm Trunks lest he spontaneously combust. Gohan was gentle though, and he gave each muscle a tiny twitch, just enough to get the blood flowing and to send signals up to the brain. Gohan smiled as Trunks started to stir, the purple haired child was now the eldest of the Vegeta line and Gohan would do his best to preserve it, just like he had promised Vegeta.

"Trunks, wake up."

Trunks' eyes opened and he looked up at Gohan. His eyes were unfocused and the pupils were large, Gohan knew these as signs of a concussion.

"Gohan? Where are you I can't see?"

Gohan gave a sad smile. "I'm right here Trunks, you are suffering from a concussion. When it's done your sight will be back in no time, these things happen sometimes with head injuries."

Trunks' eyes whipped back and forth before he finally locked onto Gohan, his hearing allowing him to lock on to his position. Trunks groaned and tried sitting up; Gohan, seeing that he was having problems, stretched out a hand and helped prop him up.

"Is that, fur?" Trunks asked incredulously.

"Yeah it is, don't worry I will be sure to tell you about it when we meet up with everyone. But right now just keep a hold of me okay."

Trunks nodded and grabbed a fistful of Gohan's pants. Checking to see that Trunks was secure, Gohan gave himself a quick onceover and then warped over to the remains of his house. There was nothing left. The home that his father had built was completely demolished, what hadn't been destroyed when Gohan was almost killed hadn't survived his subsequent transformation. Incredibly though Dende was still alive and kicking. Gohan walked slowly through the wreckage, allowing Trunks to maintain his grip while he scanned the debris. Spotting the Z-sword down in the crater where he had landed, Gohan swung his tail, it too now covered in red fur, and wrapped it around the scabbard. Upon contact Gohan immediately felt Rou reestablish contact within his mind.

'See I told you. Power beyond anything you have experienced and this would still pale in comparison to what I can unleash within you boy. Now remember that I am still in this blasted sword. Come free me and then we can celebrate to your new power and meet hot girls!" Rou was ecstatic and his telepathic celebrating showed.

Gohan smiled as Rou reminded him of Master Roshi even further, but it was quickly dampened at the cause for it. This power had come with a cost, a man had to be lost for another to be saved. What Gohan and Vegeta did not know was that Gohan's ascension was what saved the planet. The constant energy emanations from Gohan's Oozaru state was starting to destabilize the planet; this is what caused the destruction of the original home world of the Saiyans.

Turning around slowly, every movement had to be executed with the utmost care and precision now that he had Trunks holding onto him, move too fast and he could potentially snap the boy's arm; Gohan walked to where he felt Dende's energy signature coming from. The Namekian's signature indicated that he was still unconscious from earlier so it would be harder to get Dende connected in such a way that Gohan could warp the whole group safely. Gohan didn't dare use the same method he used on Trunks to wake up Dende because Dende was so much weaker than the young saiyan.

"Trunks, please reach out in front of you and grab a hold of Dende. My arms are full so I can't do it."

Trunks nodded and reached forward, his hand making patting motions to find Dende's form. Finally making contact, he latched onto his clothes. "Got him, now what?"

"Now you just hold on, we're going to see the others." Gohan moved into hyperspace, dragging the others with him; for some strange reason, it was a different feeling when Gohan entered the new dimension. Gohan had never entered with more than two people and on this trip he technically had four. It felt both larger and tighter at the same time, not as tight as his father's method of teleportation but still more constricted than the norm. What Gohan didn't know was that it was not the fact that it was multiple people in the transit but Gohan himself. Hyperspace was both rejecting and welcoming Gohan's power. Before Majin Buu nothing had ever come close to the level of power Gohan now possessed and the universe was trying to adapt. Hyperspace wasn't as structurally secure as the rest of the universe and so stresses were more pronounced as they were normally much higher. If Gohan were to power-up and let loose with his power he could easily create a new black hole where he was out, as normal and hyperspace both collapsed and combined forming an infinite tunnel to nowhere.

* * *

"Just lay Chi-Chi on the couch now Tien. I'll take care of Yamcha." Master Roshi said as he reached for the comatose warrior. Tien was surprised because he had been expecting Roshi to want to take care of Chi-Chi being the massive pervert he was, but it seems that Roshi was finally learning when to act like a pervert and when not too. Living with Eighteen must have done wonders for him and Tien wondered what other effects Krillin's family had had on the old turtle hermit.

Goten looked on in concern as the three-eyed warrior carefully set his mother down on the couch as the television spoke in the background. "Is my mom going to be alright?"

Tien looked at Chi-Chi and then at Yamcha, both were out cold but their colors had drastically improved the further away they had gotten from Gohan. Tien had been scared when he saw Gohan start to follow them but when Trunks arrived Gohan seemed to focus all of his attention on the young boy. "Yeah she should be fine. Both are looking a lot better than they were before now that we're safe."

Tien turned around as he heard the volume on the television go up. Krillin was holding Marron in one arm and the remote in his free hand. Tien was about to ask him to turn it down but then actually heard the words on the news report.

"Thankfully the world-wide earthquakes are stopping. All of the phenomena appear to be stopping now as suddenly as it had started up. Looking at the data it seems that the natural disasters were all spread out from one point with the Mount Paozu region being the epicenter. Casualties at this point are unknown but it is known that East City was destroyed as the continental plate forcibly split into two with the doomed town being on the fractures path. Scientists are baffled as to what could cause a continental plate to suddenly split but it seems to be related to the other events that happened tonight. Civilians are advised to stay in their homes until authorities have calmed things down as riots have broken out around the world with the worst occurring in Satan City. For the first time since coming to the city, Mr. Satan left his estate and assisted the police in calming things down. With him was his daughter, Videl Satan who witnesses describe as being very nervous and distraught. She was also credited with looking towards the south, which coincidentally is where Mount Paozu is located. Is this another secret talent of the Satan family to locate danger? Is this how our savior defeated Cell, through some psychic ability? Experts speculate as to what it could mean bu-"

Krillin turned off the T.V as now that it had diverted from the interesting part it was now the usual propaganda for Hercule and his alleged feats of strength. Krillin didn't have the heart to deal with all the bullshit, usually he would crack a joke at Hercule's expense but without his wife to share it with there was no point. He had yet to even bother of thinking of how he would break the news to Marron; no child should have to learn that their mother would not be coming home. Marron was not an ordinary mother but even Gohan when he was a child had broken down when he learned of Goku's first death, even when he was older the second time it hit him hard.

"The world goes to shit and Yamcha and Chi-Chi pass out right in the thick of it. Doesn't that seem weird to any of you?" Oolong asked the assembled group, the porcine shapeshifter was sitting next to Yamcha's outstretched form on the long L shaped couch.

"It happened when Gohan transformed into an Oozaru, then it went Super Saiyan and started to emit large amounts of energy. It's possible the energy was causing the natural disasters to occur." Tie said.

"So Gohan becomes super strong and almost destroys the world, if he can do it then why didn't this Majin Buu guy do it also? Isn't he just as strong if not stronger than Gohan?"

"Buu's power was concentrated in his body, Gohan was sending out an enormous amount of power. It's the only thing I can think of that would show the difference."

Oolong snorted and popped open the tab of his beer, leaning back on the couch Oolong guzzled the alcoholic beverage. Finishing it with a loud belch, Oolong placed it on Yamcha's comatose body, snickering at the outraged look on Puar's face. The blue cat floated around Yamcha's head and glared at the fat pig. Suddenly a large smile bloomed across his face, exposing his fangs.

"Don't make me say it." Puar warned.

Oolong cocked his head to the side. "Say what?"

"The P word."

Oolong turned white as a sheet. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Pig." Puar intentionally cut the word short, making the action obvious to Oolong and the onlookers who looked on in, amusement on the faces of those who knew, confusion on the ones who didn't."

"Does he mean piggy?" Goten inquired to Tien. Tien smiled and started to chuckle as Oolong's face turned bright red and he started to grunt. The pig started to hop around on his seat, his legs crisscrossing and kneading together. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it Goten you're just as bad as Goku!"

Oolong changed into a bird and flew over the couch towards the bathroom door, going around the couch and everyone would've taken too long. With a loud bang Oolong slammed the door shut as everyone started laughing, the exceptions being a confused Goten and Krillin, Marron was still somehow managed to stay asleep through the racket.

"Dumb pig, should have just left Yamcha alone." Puar muttered under his breath, a smug grin stretched over his face as he picked up the empty beer can and floated over to the kitchen sink and dropped it in.

Suddenly, Tien and Master Roshi's heads turned towards the north-east, serious expressions on their faces. Goten was confused as he looked between the faces of the two elder warriors.

"What's going on?"

Tien's eyes shifted over to the boy, his third eye remaining stationary whereas Roshi sighed and adjusted his grip on his staff. "Vegeta is dead, Gohan must have killed him."

Roshi ground his staff into the pink carpet and voiced his agreement. "Must have happened right when the earthquakes all stopped, Gohan's power no longer has that strange rippling to it that it once did."

Goten's face fell, bewilderment fought with denial. "You're lying! Gohan would never do something like that to Vegeta, why would he?"

"Because Vegeta was taken over by Buu, he isn't in control of himself and is evil again."

"I don't believe it." Goten's face was stubborn, a scowl etched across his face and he crossed his arms with a huff.

Tien turned to face him fully. "Well its true, if you don't believe me just go and try and sense him for yourself."

Goten's scowl deepened but he knew there was no point in arguing, like Tien said he could easily find out for himself. Right as he did so a massive power erupted on the beachfront in front of Roshi's house. Then just as quickly as it was there it was gone, popping in over by West City. It disappeared again then reappeared back onto the beach. By this time everyone who was still awake had gathered by the front door, staring at the strange new arrival.

A bewildered Bulma dressed in a night-gown was there to greet them, but she wasn't the only person. Goten shoved past Tien and Roshi looked at the arrivals and shouted. "Gohan!"

* * *

Power Levels:

Gohan(True Super Saiyan/Super Saiyan 4): 137,221,000,000


	14. Disguise

Yes it has been forever I know. I have good news though. I am now a member of Team Dragon Star and I have published two works there already. Their titles are: "Echoes from the Past" and "A Dark Reflection" I hope my you all will enjoy those stories as much as you enjoy this one. And the second one is a sequel to the first one which is a oneshot. It does have action in it with a fight in the very first chapter of Dark Reflection.

* * *

Sand billowed around Gohan's feet as the young saiyan gently placed Vegeta's body down on the shore of Roshi's island. On the very edge of his senses Gohan could detect a disturbance. It seemed as though a presence was there that wasn't supposed to be. What Gohan didn't know was that what he was feeling was Vegeta's soul, which was currently stuck in limbo. The judgment on Vegeta had not been completed, so it had not been determined whether or not he would keep his body. Because of this, Vegeta was stuck on Earth and would be able to witness the reactions of his loved ones.

Shaking his head, Gohan changed the fabric Trunks' had in his fist into oxygen, then quickly reformed it around his fur covered leg; this way he would not have to worry about causing the child harm. Once free, he warped over to Bulma's signature in Capsule Corporation where instead of directly touching her, he simply touched part of her nightgown that was away from her body, the movement speared directly through the fabric and a portion of the bed causing Bulma to wake up. Before she could react, Gohan warped both of them over to Master Roshi's once more. Upon reentry, Gohan withdrew his finger from the nightgowns' new hole and waited. He was oblivious to Vegeta's shock as he heard some commotion from within the house and saw Roshi and Tien exit the main door in tense stances. Seconds later, Goten burst out from between them and the child shouted out, "Gohan!"

As Bulma looked at the faces around her, she was very confused. One moment she was lying in her bed waiting for Vegeta to come home, and the next thing she knew she was here at Master Roshi's with everyone staring at her and the person on her right.

"Mom!" was heard as Trunks' senses picked up on his mother and releasing his hold on the unconscious Dende, latched onto his mother, crying. His hands kept clutching at her gown as he buried his head as far as he could into her stomach. Bulma placed her hands on him and started to rub his back.

"Shhh. It's okay son; mommy is here now." As she spoke she looked at her surroundings. She quickly spotted Gohan's silhouette and moved on to the motionless body laying at her feet. The genius saw the shiny reflection on the top of his head and figured that it was Dende. She quickly surmised that a head wound was the reason for his unconsciousness. Moving up and further out, she saw another still form and recognized it immediately.

In a rush of adrenaline picked up Trunks' heavy frame and hobbled over to Vegeta's body, her progress slowed by the sand. Once she reached him she knelt down in front of his body and, ignoring the change in wardrobe, stretched out a hand and cupped his head. It was covered in blood, but she ignored it as she looked down at his peaceful face. Tears started to drip silently down from her eyes, the droplets falling onto Vegeta's breastplate. Bulma sniffed, "Vegeta," her head bent to rest on his chest as she clutched Trunks closer, "you can't be gone, you can't. Vegeta."

Her slim body heaved as she started to sob violently. The others could only watch on, Gohan's eyes were downcast and the others were staring in shocked silence. Tien and Roshi had alerted them of Vegeta's death, but to see his body right in front of them was a different story altogether. More details were revealed as their eyes adjusted to the dark. The only part of Vegeta that wasn't broken in some way was his head. The breastplate he wore was lumpy and misshapen, evidence of his broken ribs. Vegeta's right arm was crushed down into a pulp; only muscle and skin connected the appendage to the rest of his body. From the waist down the suit was bumpy and wet; covering shards of bone that protruded from each leg. Vegeta's body was a mess, stunning all into silence as the extent of the damage became clear. Even Vegeta himself was amazed at the amount of damage Gohan had inflicted upon him during his transformation. He looked over at the boy's form and scrutinized his appearance. The reddish fur that covered his frame did nothing to conceal the boys' power; instead of radiating it out into the environment, like most new transformations, it was all contained. Vegeta could tell that Gohan was suppressing it as much as he could and while it was a mere fraction of what Gohan could unleash, it was still stronger than everyone else on the planet combined.

If his memory served, Vegeta figured that Gohan was about as strong as he was when he had first transformed into a Super Saiyan. Gohan's power randomly spiked up and down, and though it was probably imperceptible to Gohan himself, it was obvious to everyone else. Vegeta could now see how the original home world of the saiyans was destroyed by one's attempt to reach this form. Gohan during his very brief assumption of the Golden Oozaru form had done tremendous damage to the planet's ecology with earthquakes and storms causing damage everywhere. In fact had it not been for Roshi's quick thinking, his entire island would have been flooded by a tsunami. The hermit had powered up and fired a full-power Kamehameha directly at the wall of water, which neatly bisected it and saved his island.

Everyone was startled when Gohan jerked his head up and looked above Vegeta's corpse. Vegeta was even more startled when Gohan's eyes bore straight into his own, but did not meet them. Gohan wasn't looking at him, but through him. Lowering his head, Gohan muttered, "I'm sorry."

Roshi walked over to Gohan, and like everyone else, thought he was apologizing to Bulma. Clearing his throat, Roshi spoke, "They know son, there was nothing you could have done."

Gohan looked down at the old man but didn't correct him on who he was apologizing too. He merely replied with, "I know, I just wish it hadn't happened. If it hadn't been for Buu, none of this would have happened. Hang on . . . where is Buu?"

"I used the Mafuba on him and imprisoned him within a rice cooker; it's in the house. Also, speaking of what happened; what exactly happened back there? We know the gist but what happened?" Tien interrupted, having walked up beside Roshi during their short exchange.

"I will tell everyone what happened, but first let's go inside, I want to see Mom." And with one last look in Vegeta's direction, he turned and started walking towards the door. However, he stopped walking before he reached the threshold.

"I almost forgot about something, I don't think Rou would appreciate being locked up any longer."

From within the confines of Gohan's tail, golden ki started to coalesce around the Z-swords scabbard. Working his way through the exterior metal, Gohan finally made contact with the sword. Once more meeting resistance, Gohan applied constant pressure as he searched for weak-points in the barrier. Tien, Goten, and everyone else except for Roshi had to shield their eyes from the light emanating from Gohan's tail. Getting fed up with the lack of results, Gohan decided to just bulldoze through it and powered up. Sand exploded beneath his feet and froze in mid-air; melting into glass by the intense heat. Gohan was in the center of a glass cone which contained the light and focused it upwards, causing Roshi's island to be visible from space for several light years. The others threw themselves down to the ground to escape the light and covered their eyes to save their sight. Gohan was emitting several times more light than the sun and it didn't seem like he would stop. Higher and higher his power climbed, all contained except for the light and localized heat; the way this was going something had to give, and it wasn't Gohan.

The others heard a loud crack, and they all assumed that Gohan had destroyed the Z-sword with his power. Finally the light subsided, and everyone was able to stand and look at Gohan. He was panting and had reverted back to his base form, his body covered in a shiny film of sweat. Goten gaped at his brother in astonishment; Gohan was so powerful! The brief amount Goten had sensed of it before it had been suppressed had been nothing compared to what he had just demonstrated. It was official, his brother was cool. There was no one cooler and anyone who thought different was obviously sick.

"I'm free! I'm finally free! Now I don't have to talk to that damn witch anymore to pass time! Sand! Water! I got freed at a goddamn beach! Oh thank you Gohan, I am so sending you to heaven if you ever die."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the strange purple man dancing on the sand, running back and forth through the surf, laughing the entire time.

Puar asked, "Is that the Supreme Kai?"

"It looks like it but he seems so much older and... insane," Tien answered the shapeshifter.

"Did he say something about a witch? 'Cause I don't see anyone," Roshi wondered out loud.

Rou stopped breakdancing on the waves and turned towards Roshi. Moving faster than anyone could see, ripped a chunk of hair out of Roshi's beard and swallowed it. Roshi yelped and leaped back but nobody noticed; they were all fixated on the stranger whose eyes were now glowing a strange blue color. Suddenly, the man seemed to switch personalities and voices and squealed in a scratchy high pitched voice.

"I have a grandson! Oh this is great news! I can't believe that Glinda settled down and had kids! Oh I'm so happy!"

Roshi stared at the man in front of him and rubbed his sore chin, checking how many hairs he still had. Noticing a big gap in it he got angry for the first time that most of those present had ever seen.

"I don't know who the heck you are but my grandmother's name was not Glinda and you ruined my beard; my glorious beard!"

Rou gave him a loving smile and closed his eyes.

"Of course you're not my actual grandson, you are so far down the line that it's just easier to say grandson than descendant. It's a pity you didn't get any of the magical talent; but at least your sister did. Oh it makes this old lady's heart swell with happiness to know I have grandchildren to spoil."

Gohan interrupted this time, "Excuse me Rou, but you are acting very strange. And you aren't a woman."

Turning around Rou glared at Gohan and his voice was back to what Gohan had first heard on death's door.

"Of course I'm not a woman you blabbing idiot! I'm fused with a witch who is happy to know her kid had kids and they had kids and so on so forth; idiot."

"So you're a guy and a girl at the same time?" asked a confused Goten.

"No. We switch. Last time she was in control was when I was gambling and wagered her crystal ball. She made me go get a manicure; the crazy old bat."

"That was in my family for generations you stupid Kai; you had no right to use it to try and win some stupid magazines."

Rou stomped his foot down into the sand and glared at Gohan.

"See what you did! If you had thought before opening your big mouth she wouldn't be doing this!"

"And just how is this his fault? This nice, handsome young man just broke us out of that sword and now you're yelling at him; show some kindness."

Goten walked over and tugged on Rou's sleeve; the wizened Kai looked down at Goten and smiled at the child with a woman's affection.

"Yes what is it dearie? What can Mrs. Pepper do for you?"

Goten looked up and asked, "If you're a guy and a girl does this mean you don't have balls?"

Roshi couldn't help it, while others merely looked at Goten stunned, air burst out from between his closed lips and he doubled over in laughter and said, "Yep, that's definitely Goku's kid alright."

"Enough," Gohan's voice boomed over the small island as he looked at everyone, "this conversation is pointless and there are more important things to do. Let's go inside and decide what to do with Buu."

With that said, Gohan then turned and walked up the steps and through Kame House's front door. The others started to follow when a scream rent the air.

"Vegeta, no!"

Gohan walked back out of the house as the others turned and looked over at the source to see Bulma sobbing hysterically as she clutched at the sand where Vegeta's body had once lain. The dead prince's body had vanished into thin air, as whatever had been holding it back earlier was resolved. One thing remained though, a small sliver of paper lay where his right boot had been. Trunks was patting the surface of the sand, slowly extending the range as if he hoped to find some trace of his father. His hands brushed the paper and buried it under the sand but that brief contact was enough for him to notice it was out of the ordinary. Returning to it he picked it up and looked at it, his eyes going in and out of focus as he gazed at it.

"I think it's a note," he said in confusion.

Bulma was in no condition to read it so Gohan walked over and gently took it from Trunks. He looked down at the wrinkled piece of paper and noticed that the writing was poor and the edges were jagged, as if it had been torn off of a larger piece. The quality reflected the haste in which Vegeta had written it, with but the words themselves were of a quality fit for a funeral; which in effect, they were.

"I'll read what it says Bulma," said Gohan while smoothing it out as best he could, "it says 'Bulma, Trunks, I hoped that neither of you would have to read this letter, but if you are reading this then it means I am dead. As you are no doubt aware of by now, Majin Buu is back and Gohan has fallen. I go off to try and fight him, not for the thrill, but for you. He must be stopped. Every second he remains alive is a second where you two are in danger. For all my mistakes, the one thing I did right was finding you. I have never told either of you that I love you; but I am fixing that now. Bulma, Trunks, I love both of you in a way I have not felt since I was a child. My only hope is that I will have managed to get into Heaven so that I can see both of you some day. It is ironic that I have seen others fight for this very same thing for years; but I am only capable of doing that very same thing now. Goodbye, I love you both; my family."

Trunks' eyes were glistening in the starlight, the boy tried not to cry but every so often a tear would slip down; Bulma just lay there, her mind having literally shut down in an effort to preserve its sanity. Trunks grieved, and as what usually happens, grief turns to rage. His muscles and jaw clenched and his body shook, his ki was in turmoil. Rising and falling erratically, it shook just as his body did. It wanted to escape, it wanted to be released and every moment it wasn't more and more of it was collected. Trunks' power kept rising and right when he was about to snap and unleash it all he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up he briefly registered that he could see now. Blue eyes met black eyes and from the warmth of Gohan's hand he felt something trickle into his body. Unlike the previous times where Gohan had injected his energy into Trunks' body, Gohan had placed his memories and his own sufferings into it and Trunks was receiving them. Gazing at the one person in their group who knew and understood exactly what he was going through, Trunks was shocked out of his own stupor when a voice drifted into his mind. _'There are others who need you to be strong Trunks, your mother needs you. Go to her; show her she is not alone.'_

He looked up at Gohan and his anger and resolve collapsed, tears freely flowed now and he nodded. The boy walked over to his mother and embraced her, rocking back and forth as he held her.

Turning around, Gohan spoke to the others, "Now, let's go inside."

* * *

"So we know Buu is in the rice cooker and that its here. Now the real question is, how to we get rid of him permanently?" said Yamcha. Both Chi-Chi and Yamcha had recovered from earlier with no negative effects and were engaged in the conversation.

"Can't we just dump him someplace and forget about it?" Oolong asked the group, the pig had recovered from his bathroom episode earlier and was now drinking a beer next to Chiaotzu. The small mime-like man had shown up shortly after everyone was inside with Mr. Popo and had been relieved to see Tien was safe. Now he was just on the side and helped the others come up with ideas. Mr. Popo was currently in the kitchen cooking as he hummed away.

"No, I did that with Piccolo Daimao and he came back. Granted he had help but I don't think its safe to have Buu on Earth." said Roshi. The hermit was still mad about his beard and glared at Rou every couple of seconds. The oblivious Kai was sitting next to him and had long ago sunk into a deep slumber on the couch.

"And he's in a rice cooker, not a specially made cocoon sealed by powerful magic. Do you think Baba could do something like that?" Gohan asked Roshi.

The old man shrugged, "How am I to know what she can and can't do. Last time I went to her for a spell she set me on fire, that was the last time I had hair on my head."

Oolong snorted, "Oh yeah and what did you ask for; a magical telescope that lets you see naked women?"

"That would be great but no. I asked her for a potion to make women want to have sex with me constantly."

"Wow, maybe if I were to pay her she could do the same for me!" Oolong's eyes were huge and the pig was drooling at the thought.

"Yeah right, like you have enough money. I on the other hand have more than enough money to get something like that." Yamcha boasted proudly as he butted into the now perverted conversation.

"How could you possibly have enough money?" Roshi and Oolong asked simultaneously, both leaning in closer to Yamcha to hear it.

"Well I am a professional baseball player so I'm filthy rich. I'm the best in the world actually so I don't even need anything like that to get some ass." Yamcha said.

Roshi suddenly turned grave and looked sadly at Yamcha, "Yamcha I just remembered, you forgot to pay me your fee for training you in your youth. The fee is ten million zeni, cash only."

Gohan stood up and glared at the three men, and then he started to shout "Enough! We are talking about the possible fate of the universe here not some god damn fuck potion!", Gohan took a deep breath now and visibly calmed himself before continuing, "Master Roshi, please call your sister and see if something like that is possible. Tien can you bring me the rice cooker? If she won't come here then I will take it to her."

"Right, I'll go call her. Who has a cell phone?" Roshi asked the group as Tien nodded and got up to go up the stairs where he stashed the rice cooker containing Buu. Tien left the babble of the group and went up into the relative calm of the upstairs; this was where Krillin and his family lived in the Kame house and if he listened hard enough he could hear the soft breaths of Marron sleeping. '_At least someone can remain happy and carefree in this time. I just hope it lasts, the poor kid just lost her mother._' Tien shook his head and continued past Marrons room to the storage room.

As he walked into the room he could tell instantly that something was wrong, he only had enough time to see the broken rice cooker before his entire body was frozen and a chunk of pink goo enveloped him, Tien couldn't even cry out a warning to everyone down below. In the split second before it could envelop him completely he tried to pulse his ki rapidly, but it seemed that that too was frozen. His ki remained at a static level and showed no signs of anything wrong or out of the ordinary. Finally Tien was fully covered and a form started to emerge from the large pink four limbed blob that now inhabited the space that he once did. The goo then began to harden and form definite features, a large antenna and clothing emerged along with Majin Buu's facial features. Within seconds Tien was gone and in his place was Majin Buu, the pink demon had escaped from his imprisonment and had now absorbed Tien, gaining all his power and knowledge, including that of the Mafuba and who knew how to use it. Upon learning how to sense and suppress his ki Buu had instantly matched his own to that of Tien's and kept it at the man's level.

_'Well this is certainly a surprise, it seems this human knew a lot of tricks and had a bit of power; nothing great but certainly not small enough to frown at. Well time to get to work_.' Pointing a finger at the broken rice cooker, Buu shot a pink beam at it and replaced it with an identical one that was in pristine condition. As Buu walked towards the rice cooker his features began to run like water and as he picked it up he now looked and sounded exactly as Tien did.

'_It's time to put my plan into action. Those fools won't know what hit them, without Gohan they will all fall apart and will be at my complete and utter mercy_.'

* * *

"Yes. No. Yes I know its short notice. No I haven't called and talked to mom. Oh just come here its important. Who are you calling a grouchy old coot!" Roshi took the phone away from his ear and looked down at it before turning to everyone else and exclaiming in an annoyed voice, "She hung up on me, that witch hung up on me."

"It's not hanging up if I'm right behind you now is it? You really do need to call mother, she worries about her little baby."

Roshi jumped a foot into the air and turned around to glare at his sister. Baba was sitting on her crystal ball which was floating a meter off of the ground, allowing her to be at eye level with everyone else in the room.

Baba merely stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Gohan and said, "Alright, so tell me where the rice cooker is and I'll see what I can do."

Gohan jerked his head sideways at Tien and said, "Tien has it."

"Yes I can see that, how redundant of you to say that."

Now it was Chi-Chi's turn to glare at Baba, "Excuse me but this is rather important so I would prefer it if you wouldn't talk to my son like that."

"Oh be quiet and let me work in peace." Baba turned back to Tien and took the rice cooker from his grasp. When she did he turned and went and stood next to Roshi to give her room.

"Okay let me see here, it's in good condition. There's nothing wrong with the external seal. Oh look it cooks rice in a little under two minutes, that's fast! And it's empty."

Everyone turned and looked at her shocked, coincidentally because of that nobody noticed the evil grin on Tien's face as he leered down at the unsuspecting Roshi.

"What do you mean it's empty? I saw Tien place Buu in there myself!" Krillin exclaimed while Yamcha nodded in agreement.

"Oh I think it's obvious what our dear which means by empty my friends." Tien laughed out and as everyone turned to face him he grabbed Roshi's head on the left side with his left hand and pointed the index finger of his right finger against the old man's right temple before quickly vibrating it at high speed and literally drilled it into Roshi's skull. Roshi died instantly as Tien vibrated at such high speeds that he turned Roshi's brain into mush instantly.

Everyone was so shocked that Tien would do something like that that they had no time to prepare before he brought his hands together in a diamond formation and smiled.

"This is a nice technique and I really want to try it out. Kikoho!" And with that a square blast of intense ki rushed out of his hands and slammed into everyone. The Kikoho blasted everyone through the front wall of Kame House and out onto the beach where Bulma and Trunks lay. The two sat there staring at everyone in surprise before turning to look into the wreckage of Kame House to see Tien standing there with his arms outstretched laughing. As the others got up and stared at him in shock, that shock quickly turned into rage. Krillin, Yamcha, and Gohan powered up and stared him down as Tien's features began to mix and run before finally morphing into those of Majin Buu.

Placing one foot in front of the other, Buu swept into a formal bow with a flourish and as he stood up he laughed at the expressions of sheer anger and terror on everyones faces. He grinned at everyone and said, "Did ya miss me?"

* * *

Power Levels:

Gohan(Super Saiyan 4): 137,221,000,000

Majin Buu(Tien absorbed): 177,530,334,800


	15. Power Unleashed

Wow it has been a long time. I'm sorry for the delay my proofreader has had this for about a week and couldn't find the time to finish so I'm posting what they managed to do and what I did as well. Longest chapter haha enjoy!

* * *

"Okay, I see five people who might be mad at me. Is that true?" Buu said with a small innocent smile on his face. The others growled and settled deeper into their stances, as they were doing that Gohan's mind was in overdrive. _Buu has absorbed Tien, that means any surprises we had have just gone out the window. Okay Gohan just think, Buu is magic. We don't know magic. Baba and Rou know magic. Maybe those two working together can come up with a solution while we distract him. No scratch that, I'm the only one who can do anything to him the others would just be in danger. _Seeing a shock of blond hair, Gohan's attention was drawn upwards into the ruins of Kame House; Gohan's stomach immediately clenched as he saw Marron still in her bed sleeping away. _Shit! We need to get Marron out of here._

"Krillin, Yamcha, I want you two to get everyone else out of here. I'll take care of Buu. '_Rou, Baba, can you two figure out a way to seal him up for good? If you can, do it.' _Gohan didn't know how to target people individually telepathically so he just broadcasted it to those near him, hoping that one of them would at least get the message. It backfired

Buu sighed and shook his head, "Oh Gohan, you may be a genius in your own right, but that was just plain stupid. I heard that just so you know, can you figure out why?"

Gohan's mind was going a mile a minute as he spoke, "No, I have no idea what you are talking about." _Okay time to stall._

"You telling Baba and Rou to try and seal me up. Now come on please just guess at least!"

_He's begging? That works I guess, now to see how far I can go. _"I'm guessing I said it at loud when I told the others what they should be doing _right_ now!" Gohan ended this with a pointed look at Krillin and Yamcha. Yamcha nodded while Krillin looked at Gohan impassively, a quick movement of his eyes towards Marron and Gohan knew what he meant.

"Oh stop trying to be so clever, you can't stall me. I'm just going to tell you anyways; you broadcasted your thoughts to everyone. And since thoughts are primarily beta waves, which can be measured by certain machines, they can be interpreted and read. Guess what the Gete Star chip inside my head did?" Buu was practically pleading with Gohan, he was acting like a little kid who was desperately trying to get his parents to pay attention to him.

"It translated them into happy little pictures of muffins- go now!" Gohan shouted to the others as he transformed into his new form and went straight to his full power. As the others took off, Gohan rocketed towards Buu who was stamping his foot.

"No! That's not right at all! It translated them into data it could interpret and fed it to me! Oh you aren't even listening to me."

Gohan snapped his fist forward at Buu's face and as it made contact, Buu's head detached itself from his body. His entire strategy thrown off because of the decapitation, Gohan kept his cool and adapted on the spot. Planting his left foot, Gohan spun into a fierce scything right spin kick that sent the rest of Buu's body flying through the right side of Kame house. Before the upper levels of the house even registered the structural damages, Gohan had zoomed up through the floor and scooped Marron into his arms. Dashing backwards, Gohan set her gently into Krillin's arms before taking off back towards Buu. He was not expecting to see Buu waiting for him, whole.

"So you wanted to get Marron out of the house huh? Well I'm sad that you don't want me to play with your friends." Buu said with a feral grin, "But I guess I can play with all of you."

Buu crossed his arms in front of himself, then rotated his arms at the elbows bringing them parallel to his body. Two Buus separated from his body, and then they each did the same. All three Buus split once more, bringing the grand total of Majin Buus up to six.

_No power loss? That isn't how Tien's technique works, something isn't right._ "Okay we both know that your power is supposed to be divided when you do that. Care to explain why it hasn't?"

Buu smiled condescendingly then spoke, "Oh now you want to know how I did something. Well guess what monkey, you don't get to know."

Buu then looked at each of his copies and snapped his arm forward, "This is not a drill men; you have your targets now go go go!"

Each Buu saluted the original and took off, blasting off with such intensity that Gohan struggled to keep his position.

"That isn't how the military operates Buu." Gohan admonished, Gohan could feel his anger under the surface, just waiting to be unleashed. While Gohan was able keep it in check now, Buu's antics weren't helping one bit.

"Tien's old master Shen used to watch old military movies. Other than that I have had no experience with your military, but I just don't care."

"You can talk all you want, but you aren't going to win Buu, I hope you realize that."

Buu's eyebrows rose to comical heights. Gohan clenched his fists and grit his teeth. Buu was mocking him on purpose, his control over his body enabling him to pull off any expression at a whim.

"I have a hard time believing you monkey, as far as I'm concerned I think that I've been winning the whole time. After all, you are down four of your most powerful and skilled fighters. I don't see you in any position to be making threats. Why don't you go throw poo at some of your friends."

"I'm not Vegeta. Those monkey comments don't affect me. And while I don't like you talking about my friends like that, you forgot about one thing. I am the son of the saiyan Goku, and I won't lose to you!"

Gohan's aura erupted around himself, bolts of energy darting out from all over his body. As he powered up Gohan noticed that his earlier hypothesis on this new forms ease of control was wrong. He definitely had a ways to go before he had full control over it. Energy drain was a minimum but the emotional stress was massive. His anger threatening to overwhelm him, Gohan figured that he would have no lack of power at least during this fight.

His hands at his sides, Gohan opened them and poured power into his open palms. Bringing them both up to his forehead, the ki mixed and combined becoming unstable. Unstable, but powerful. "Taste this bastard, Masenko-Ha!" Thrusting his arms forwards, Gohan unleashed the strongest attack he had ever fired, all at Majin Buu.

* * *

"Where are we going Krillin?" Goten asked the former Orin temple monk as they flew away from Buu and Gohan.

The five fighters were flying in a skein formation with Krillin at its head and Chiaotzu and Yamcha at its rear. The small fighter had been devastated at Tien's apparent demise and his subsequent replacement by Buu. While his physical prowess was much less than the others, his telekinetic abilities more than made up for any other shortcomings. He could easily squash fighters like the old Ginyu force like bugs and anyone too strong for that approach he could always wreck havoc internally. Something's you couldn't defend against no matter how strong you were.

"The one place Tien has no knowledge of and that Buu would never think to look, my brother-in-laws cabin." Krillin said.

"You know where Seventeen is? When did you guys ever catch up with him?" Yamcha asked. He received an elbow to the stomach from his unwanted passenger, Rou.

"Don't even bother with such trivial questions. The most important thing right now is to get away from Buu. You are such an idiot, did those scars addle your brains too?"

Yamcha scowled down at the aged kai, "How would you feel if I dropped you old man? I bet you wouldn't want to get your feet wet."

Before Rou could shoot a scathing reply back, someone beat him to the punch.

"Feet wet? I think a whole body soaking would be best."

Instantly Yamcha's body froze and he began to plummet from the sky, Rou still in his arms. As they fell, Rou beat on his body screaming, "Pull up! Pull up you brain-dead idiot!" As they descended the voice followed them and taunted, "Mayday we are going down! I repeat we are going down!" It even started to make perfectly accurate engine failure noises.

Rou stopped beating on Yamcha long enough to look down and see how far away the water was. Seeing that they were only a thousand feet above its surface he screamed and jabbed a now glowing finger directly into Yamcha's chest, right over his heart. The effect was instant, Yamcha drew in a great shuddering breath and hit the brakes.

As he gasped for air he did not forget to thank Rou, "Thanks, I thought I was done for."

The voice whispered from behind him, "Who says you aren't?"

Turning around Yamcha saw Majin Buu smiling at him. Looking up at where everyone else still was, he noticed that there were four more Majin Buu's, each hovering in front of the others.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me, the day I get freed some pink bubblegum monster decides to end the world. Makes me almost wish I was still in the sword."

"Rou, please stop complaining." Yamcha nervously stuttered, "He is still right in front of us."

"So? You're a fighter aren't you? Then fight him!"

"It doesn't work like that you old man! In order to fight you have to be at least strong enough to move him."

"Oh I see how it is. Make me do everything," Rou harrumphed, "lazy mortals."

Rou's eyes began glowing, and then his whole body glowed. Buu smirked at the kai, "Ah ah ah, can't have none of that can we?" Now Buu's eyes glowed, except his was a bright pink. The two stood facing each other for a moment before Buu's eyes went cross-eyed and a look of horror etched itself on his face, moments before he imploded.

"Idiot didn't guard his eyes."

Yamcha stared in awe at where Buu used to be before looking in his arms at Rou, "How did you do that!" he exclaimed.

"He focused his magic in his eyes, not his whole body like I did. So I crossed them, causing his the dark energy matrix he was constructing to cross itself. Dark energy doesn't like to be in more than one place so it ate itself, and it followed its pathways back into him and it ate him. Idiot, should know better than to rely on dark energy." Rou smugly stated, looking very much like a bird preening itself.

"Can you do that to the others?"

Rou frowned, "I might be able to tap into their magical infrastructures but it is a long shot. I would need a willing sacrif- I mean distraction." Rou aimed the purposely bad cover-up at Yamcha, making sure that the scarred warrior would know that he would have a part to play.

"Fine, how long you need?" Yamcha was no stranger to death, he had stood up to the saiyans and Cell, he could stand up to Buu.

"For all of them at once? About five minutes, I hope Buu likes to play with his food."

Yamcha glared at Rou, who merely stuck his tongue out at the warrior. Yamcha muttered under his breath, "God damn déjà vu."

"Can you fly?" Yamcha asked his annoying self-centered passenger.

"Of course I can, I'm just not fast, we can't all be muscle-bound scar tissue now can we?" Hearing that Yamcha immediately released Rou who, having expected that, was already floating under his own power.

"Enough with the wisecracks. You better work your magic old man, I don't think we will have another shot at this."

"I've already started, what's your excuse idiot."

Yamcha growled, visibly relaxing himself, Yamcha pooled ki into his right hand and gripped it with his left. Soon a large ball coalesced above it, but large wasn't good enough. Yamcha decided to get creative, he knew the Taiyoken and he knew the Sokidan. Maybe its time to combine those two moves. Yamcha tinkered with the ball and got it to pulse, now he just had to place the filter over it.

"Agh!" Yamcha shouted out as he managed to blind himself, almost losing the Soki-taiyoken's integrity in the process.

"Only four minutes left idiot, you need to get started." Rou's voice cut in through Yamcha's blindness and got him focused again.

"I don't suppose you can get me a pair of sunglasses could you?" Yamcha tentatively asked not really expecting an answer. To his surprise he felt a weight settle on the bridge of his nose and ears as he heard Rou speak, "Now back to four and a quarter, don't lose any more time idiot."

With the sunglasses protecting his eyesight from the Soki-taiyoken Yamcha was able to see how the battle was faring up above. Not good, Dende was now forced to juggle both Chi-Chi and Bulma in his arms while Baba, Puar, and Oolong floated nearby. Normally Yamcha would grin at the sweat covering Oolong's body as he struggled to maintain the form of a bat. Krillin was faring the worst as he was using the Multiform technique in order to keep Marron safe. This meant that one half of him was getting knocked around like a hair covered pinball while the other was desperately dodging wayward blasts from the others. Goten and Trunks had teamed up against their respective Buu's. Chiaotzu wasn't doing well at all. The small man was in a losing contest of wills with his Buu as the pink demon used a combination of telekinetics and telepathy to both undermine Chiaotzu's confidence and bludgeon him.

Seeing how everyone was doing, Yamcha chose his first target. Throwing his fist upwards and to the right, he shouted, "Sokidan!" and watched as his attack soared towards his target.

* * *

'_Chiaotzu, please help me. Buu is holding me prisoner you have to free me!' _Chiaotzu heard Tien's voice in his mind and had to remind himself that it was not really Tien. Chiaotzu focused his mind and sent a telekinetic bolt at Buu's torso. Nothing had worked so far but Chiaotzu would not give up. He would do everything he could do in his power to try and free Tien, and if that wasn't possible, enable others to do it.

Buu's chest indented and his black vest flapped from the impact. Buu looked down and cried out in false pain and dismay as he clutched at the dent in his chest. "My ribs! You broke my ribs! Oh wait how silly of me I don't have ribs."

Chiaotzu drifted back in terror and resignation, nothing he did left any lasting damage. He knew he wasn't the only one frustrated with the lack of progress as he could hear Goten and Trunks crying out in anger and frustration as they beat on their opponents.

Before he could do anything else though a large bright flashing ball came in between Buu and himself and struck the pink demon. Chiaotzu was forced to look away as the impact caused a bright flare of light and left the smell of... burnt gum? Looking at Buu he noticed that the orb was flying away on a boomerang like curve, but that wasn't the interesting thing he saw. Buu's chest had a large black scorch mark that sizzled and bubbled. Looking at the demon's face he saw for the first time an expression of pain and anger on his face. Before he could do anything though the orb was back and struck Buu in his back with a flash and carried him towards the two Buus fighting Goten and Trunks.

The resulting impact caused an enormous explosion and flash that briefly brightened up the whole sky for miles around. What was left was a singular large mass of blackened pink that pulsed and bulged rapidly. Hearing a voice call out from below Chiaotzu looked down and saw Yamcha soaring upwards while shouting and waving his hands.

"Contain them! I have an idea!" Yamcha shouted up at Chiaotzu.

The pale man looked at the pink mass then Yamcha before the later's words registered in his mind. Nodding, he quickly flew next to the two blind boys and thrust his hands out towards the pink blob. The outward expanding mess immediately shrunk in on itself and struggled feebly against the translucent field containing it. With no cognitive thoughts guiding it, Buu's flesh was unable to effectively fight against the field and complete its regeneration. Right now it was simply running on autopilot which wasn't always the best solution.

With only one Buu left to take care of Yamcha forced all the energy that he could spare into another Sokidan, this time one that was not combined with the Taiyoken. Looking down at Rou, he shouted, "How much time left?"

Rou replied, "It is ready, get the last one with the others and I can end this."

Yamcha smiled and said, "Five minutes my ass."

"I heard that!"

"Sokidan!" Yamcha fired and controlled the attack so that it would fly right over Buu's head. He was just in time to. Buu had grown tired of fighting with Krillin's copy and grabbed the dwarf's head in one hand, and his feet with the other. His grip secure, Buu grinned sadistically and ripped the clone in half while laughing maniacally. Halfway through the bisection Krillin's clone dematerialized into light and ki which flooded back into the original Krillin, who was holding a now quivering Marron in his arms. Before Buu could advance on the father and daughter, Yamcha's Sokidan came flying in above him, reversed direction, and promptly smashed into Buu's face. Buu was so surprised at the attack that he literally flipped over and completed several rotations before he regained control and stopped himself.

Yamcha was disappointed that it didn't have near the same affect on Buu as his Soki-taiyoken but it would have to do. Whipping his fingers back and forth through the air, Yamcha corrected his Sokidan's course and directed it back to Buu. Unfortunately he had lost the element of surprise and Buu opened his mouth impossibly wide and swallowed the attack whole. His stomach expanded and smoke trickled out of the various holes in his body as the Sokidan detonated inside his body. Turning around to the source of the attack, Buu's gaze bore daggers into Yamcha even as the smoke coming out of his arms covered his vision.

Suddenly a foot planted itself into the small of his back and Buu found himself soaring towards Yamcha and the others. Stopping himself, he turned around and saw Krillin, still in the position he had been when he had kicked Buu, gulp and turn pale as the blood fled his face even as he turned to shield Marron with his body.

Buu felt three pairs of arms latch onto his body even as he heard, "Goten! Trunks! Quick grab him!"

Before Buu could react he was dragged backwards by the three people attached to him and thrown at a hard ball. Looking underneath himself, he saw that he had collided with the three other Buus, all combined and trapped in a telekinetic sphere.

"You shouldn't have done that fools, you may have gotten lucky against me, but how will you do against all four of us?" With that Buu brought his fist up and smashed it down against the sphere engulfing the non-regenerated Buus. Before anything could happen though, a blue glow started to fill the air around and below Buu. Looking down he saw the old wizened kai with his arms outstretched towards him. Immediately Buu started to feel sick. Quickly connecting the dots, he realized that the kai was casting a spell and it was working. Steam whistled out of the pores in his body as he got angry and collected ki into his antenna.

"Die you stupid meddling kai!" Buu shouted as he flicked his antenna down at Rou, right as it left his antenna his body was wracked with such crippling pain that he knew he would not be able to fire another attack until the one he just fired took care of the kai. Before he could witness and feel the satisfaction of blowing the kai up, another decided to meddle in his affairs.

An old woman's voice shouted out, "Not so fast, popopo!"

Buu saw a portal open in the pathway of his attack and angrily watched as his blast was engulfed by it. To make matters worse, moments later he felt his own attack impact his head and blow him and the other Buus up. As they all mixed together, Rou completed his spell and everyone watched as the pink blobs quivered then collapsed in on themselves, each violently imploding.

"Wow Baba, I didn't know you had it in you." Yamcha panted out as he tried to recover his ki. Out of all the others he had expended the most while fighting Buu.

"Of course she had it in her, she's _my_ descendant." Rou...Pepper boasted. It was confusing to two different people speak out of the same body.

"Is everyone okay?" Dende asked. Everyone except Yamcha and Krillin had had some form of damage inflicted upon their persons and Dende wanted to make sure none of them were life threatening.

"Yeah, I think we're okay. You alright Goten?" Trunks said before asking his friend. Even though Goten had been dead for half a year the two friends were still able to seamlessly work together, even though it had been difficult to do due to the massive power difference between the two. Trunks was now at least five times stronger than Goten.

"I'm fine Trunks, my tummy is the only thing that hurts and its not that bad."

"Okay, well if everyone is alright we should get going, I for one don't want to be here if Buu decides to send some more copies after us."

Everyone nodded and those who were able picked up those who couldn't fly. Once again Goten and Trunks were carrying their parents with Dende sitting on Trunks' back. Chiaotzu had both Oolong and Puar and Rou was with Yamcha again. Krillin again took off, albeit at a slower pace, northwest towards Seventeen's cabin. Behind the weary party shockwaves and light could be seen as Gohan fought with Buu.

* * *

Pink wood littered the beach among common household items. A broken television was half buried under some childrens toys. Everything had been reduced to rubble under the titanic struggle of the two superpowers a couple of miles away. Ironically, only two items were still fully intact and those were the Z-sword and the rice-cooker that Buu had conjured up for his facade.

_Everything I hit him with just bounces off. I can't inflict any lasting damage due to his damn regeneration! _Gohan thought as he ducked under Buu's hyperextended fist and, crossing his arms in front of his chest, blocked the demon's knee strike as the arm retracted, bringing Buu closer to Gohan instead of the arm to Buu.

"How much longer can you keep this up monkey? I thought saiyans were natural fighters, but all you're doing is running away." Buu taunted as he kept us his relentless assault.

Gohan remained silent, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Buu was playing mind games and wanted Gohan to slip up. Gohan bolted to the side in order to avoid a whiplash from Buu's flexible antenna. Before he could do anything more though, he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist from behind. Seeing that they were pink, Gohan didn't bother looking behind him as he focused his attention on the Buu in front of him.

"I'm getting bored, are you bored?" Buu asked the caught saiyan.

"If you're so bored why don't you just end it?" Gohan said, feigning weakness as his mind whirred, coming up with strategy after strategy.

"I really don't know, maybe its Tien's influence. Despite all of Babidi's efforts he just can't seem to stop him from having some effect on me. But you're just so cute and cuddly I can't put myself up to euthanizing you. Maybe a zoo will be the best place to put you, after all, I'm sure it won't take that much effort to fry your brain."

_Oh for fucks sake. I don't care what it takes, he is going down. _Gohan stopped resisting, he grew lax in Buu's arms, his expression relaxed, his eyes closed, and it seemed that the demi-saiyan just stopped functioning.

"Aww, the monkey gave up. Well I won't keep you from your nice new enclosure." Buu said and he started to drift closer, holding up a brightly glowing finger.

_Power, I need power. This form has the potential and I need it! _Thoughts and memories of Goten and his mother drifted through his mind. Every reason for living and winning flitted through almost instantly. Gohan focused on those closest to him, and let loose.

Gohan screamed, power rushed through his body and out of it. The ki was so powerful that the Buu holding onto him was instantly vaporized and the shock wave emitted from him sent the real one soaring through the air for miles. All rational thought was gone, in its place was cold animalistic fury. Gohan raised his arms up into the air and roared, an Oozaru in humanoid form. Warping to Buu's location, Gohan found himself slightly behind and above the pink monster. He seemed to be moving almost in slow motion and that made it ridiculously easy for Gohan to rip him apart.

Gohan latched onto Buu's antenna and jerked on it, causing his body to follow right into the path of Gohan's fist. Each impact sent Buu's body flying away from Gohan but with his antenna still locked in Gohan's grasp, Buu had no choice but to rebound back where Gohan only happily repeated the beat down on his new elastic punching bag. Dents littered the surface of Buu's body, whenever Buu fixed one two more took its place. Buu was being overwhelmed and there was nothing he could do about it. Finally growing tired of the game, Gohan's next punch forcefully separated Buu's body from his antenna where he went soaring through the air down towards the ocean. Unfortunately for Buu he never reached it, flying faster than Buu could even see, Gohan flew behind him directly into Buu's path.

Gohan brought his hands up to his forehead and charged ki into them. Reaching a concentration that he deemed adequate, Gohan shoved them forward and a large cone of ki ensued forth, remaining static in the air until Buu's body happened to enter and impact its epicenter. Growling deeply in his throat in contentment, Gohan collapsed the cone of ki around Buu's body, trapping the demon inside and creating an enormous explosion.

As the smoke cleared, Gohan eagerly leaned forward to see what remained of the pink monster. Buu was a complete mess. His amorphous body had been completely blown out of its usual proportions. He quivered as his body smoked, parts of it completely liquified and dripping down into the ocean below as he hung there. Buu had no legs, and only one arm, an arm that hung out partially extended and deformed, skinny at the shoulder joint and growing fatter past his elbow.

Gohan was happy with the results, very happy. Still operating on instinct, Gohan phased above Buu and, clasping his fists together, smashed down on top of Buu's head, where the frontal bone would meet the parietal bone in a human or saiyan. With an audible plop, Buu's body wrapped around Gohan's joined fists for a second before succumbing to the unstoppable force and was sent crashing down through the water down to the sea floor. Gohan followed Buu down and before the water was even fully parted from the crater that Buu now inhabited, Gohan smashed down feet first down on Buu's body. The large crater they were currently in was made even larger as the saiyan's momentum pushed downwards. All the water within a several mile radius jumped several hundred feet into the air from the force that radiated outwards. A gurgle of air escaped Buu's body as Gohan impacted him and a grin etched itself across Gohan's face.

Pain, this was what he was supposed to inflict on others. Beautiful sweet pain. Every inhibition had been stripped away from Gohan's psyche and the animalistic instincts reveled in it. Before Gohan could inflict any more damage on the demon, Buu responded back in kind.

Four wide strips came springing up from the center of Buu's body and formed a perfect cube, with Gohan at its center and no top. Each side of the cube then morphed into a copy of Buu and Gohan had no time to react before they each started to pummel him. Fists rained down and laughter echoed across the crater walls. The dull meaty sounds resonated as eight fists, each packing the same amount of power as the original, beat down on Gohan's flesh. Gohan roared out in pain, each impact strong enough to crack bones and leave immediate bruises. It wasn't long before his skin split open and blood rushed out to stain his fur a darker shade of red.

Gohan was forced down to his knees and still the onslaught continued. Through the haze of pain something broke, a loud snap drove out the animal and brought Gohan back to awareness. What greeted him was excruciating pain and the inability to scream as water came back to flood his lungs. The water continued to pour back into the crater and Gohan was quickly smothered, and still the Buu's continued beating.

Gohan's right shoulder felt like it was on fire and each cut felt like it was being rubbed raw as the salt water aggravated it. Summoning the remainder of his strength, Gohan pushed his ki downwards, propelling him upwards. Gohan accelerated so rapidly through the water that when he emerged and continued his path up into the sky, the air friction boiled away all traces of water on his skin and fur. What was left was a bleeding mess. His fur was caked down with salt and seaweed and the exposed skin was a greenish purple, courtesy of the massive amount of bruises inflicted upon him.

As he struggled to regain his breath, Buu lazily floated up across from him, arms crossed over his chest and reclining backwards. "My that looks like it hurts quite a bit," Buu said as he flicked his antenna, sending seawater off of it to descend down in an arc, "now if only you would've just let me fix you earlier you wouldn't be feeling all of this."

Buu continued speaking, "To bad for you, I'm not generous. I gave you a chance to continue living and you turned it down. I don't think I have to tell you what that means. I'm going to continue beating you, and I am going to enjoy it so much! It'll be easier than shooting a bunch of monkeys in a zoo with a shotgun."

Buu rocketed forward and before Gohan could prepare a defense, smashed his knee upwards into Gohan's diaphragm. Air and blood forced itself out of his mouth as Gohan bent double over the appendage, but Buu was only starting. With both his index and middle fingers extended, Buu proceeded to jab them repeatedly into the soft parts of Gohan's body. His arms moving so fast that they were a blur even to his own eyes, Buu focused on Gohan's stomach and intestinal area. Gohan's body jerked around, his eyes wide with pain, Gohan could only watch as he was powerless to stop Buu's rampage. Buu targeted the top and bottom of Gohan's abdominals and obliques, each strike aiming at an anchoring point where muscle connected to the tendons, sending the muscles into spasms as they tried to contract and failed.

Buu finally ceased his pin-point assault and pressed his hands together in a diamond formation and placed them onto Gohan's chest. Seeing the look of horror on Gohan's face as he recognized the technique, Buu smiled.

"This is going to hurt. Kikoho!" The point-blank attack smashed into Gohan's sternum and carried him backwards, and like Tien had done with Cell, Buu had no intention of letting it be a singular event.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Again and again the Kikoho smashed into Gohan's body, each strike further accelerating the saiyan and flaying more and more skin off of his body. Gohan was now covered completely in blood and it was only of strength of will that he remained in his transformed state. In between the fifth and sixth Kikoho, Gohan warped out of it's path to a spot directly behind Buu. Rearing his right arm back, Gohan smashed downwards, hoping to catch the monster off guard. He didn't. Faster than he could see, Buu phased out of his fist's path and went behind him. Spinning, Buu extended his fist out to the side and gently tapped Gohan on his right temple with his knuckles.

"That would've been your head." Buu mockingly said.

Gohan's face broke out into an expression of sheer shock and fright. For the first time since the fight had started he had a thought. _I can't beat him. I've... failed._

"You have lost Gohan. You're sloppy, if Piccolo was alive to see this he would be so disappointed in you," Buu mocked, "if you want to just lie down and throw away all his teachings then go ahead. It will make it so much easier to hunt the rest of your family down with you out of the way."

And, as if Buu knew what kind of effect this would have on Gohan, he pushed Gohan's final straw.

"Your father will see you in the afterlife and only see a failure."

The fire that had almost been extinguished suddenly erupted and burned with new passion. Gohan's power once again surged upwards to new heights and he stared down Buu. Unfortunately due to the state that Gohan's body was in he wouldn't be able to hold on to the power for any significant amount of time. Buu must have figured this into his equation as he merely smiled and rose up into the air.

"Now that I've rekindled that fighting spirit of yours. I think it is time that we end this once and for all."

Buu raised his hands above his head and almost instantly an enormous ball of ki emerged. It soon swelled to gigantic proportions that rivaled the size of a small moon. It was a yellowish orange color and the surface of the ki ball rippled like the surface of a star. The power being emitted by it was absolutely mind boggling!

"Every time I destroy a planet or a star, I siphon away part of its energy. I possess the accumulated power of eons of destruction! You and this entire planet will die!"

Buu threw his hands down and the ball of destruction soon followed suit, tearing down through the lower atmosphere as if the heavens themselves were falling. Gohan remained firm even as the surrounding landscape was torn apart and was pulled towards attack. Looking up at the orb, Gohan was taken back down memory lane to the moment when Broly unleashed his world destroyer upon Goten and himself. It was the Makankosappo that destroyed the attack then and Gohan figured that it would serve just as well now as it did back then. Raising the index and middle fingers of his right arm up to his forehead, Gohan concentrated all his remaining ki into one final attack.

Electricity began to arc up and down his fingertips, then it moved to his whole body. Gohan's muscles pulsed and got smaller and smaller. The blood oozing out of his wounds slowed down then stopped as Gohan's heart literally stopped beating so as to use all available energy. Gohan's vision began to blur and fade at the edges and he had lost all feeling anywhere south of his waist and the empty feeling was spreading. Even though Gohan looked as if he was in the very throes of dying, he had never felt so alive. Never had he wielded such incredible power and it was at his very fingertips. Finally having put all the ki he could spare into his attack, the rest he needed to maintain his organs and start his heart again, Gohan fired his heavily modified Makankosappo.

An enormous beam of ki spiraled out of his fingertips and headed straight towards the middle of Buu's attack. This Makankosappo was different though, it had two corkscrews instead of just one. Gohan's idea was simply brilliant. He had devised a way that would enable the Makankosappo to leach off of any enemy attacks and use it to further achieve its objective. The outermost corkscrew worked to scrap off bits of an attack and carry it down to the base where it merged with the innermost corkscrew. The inner one then carried the siphoned energy up to the attacks point where it reinforced the piercing end, making it a much more devastating attack.

Time seemed to stop as the two attacks collided and it seemed that Gohan's attempt would be futile. Eventually though they fought to a standstill. Slowly, Buu's momentum faded and Gohan's grew greater. Bit by bit, the Makankosappo pushed through the moon sized ki orb and drove it back towards Buu. Now resembling a pockmarked moon more than anything else, Buu's attack rapidly accelerated, smashed into the stunned Buu, and escaped through the upper atmosphere, narrowly avoiding a collision with Earth's own moon.

Gohan bent at his knees and drew in a great shuddering breath as he forcefully got his heart to start pumping again, he watched with some amusement as a wound on his neck shot out a thin stream of blood that traveled almost a mile. There must have been a huge pressure build up in the stationary organ for that to have happened.

"I'm never doing anything like that ever again," Gohan said to himself as he drifted downwards towards the water. Catching himself right as his feet got wet, Gohan angled off towards the remains of Roshi's island. For the first time since the fight started, Gohan stretched out his senses to see how the others had faired. To his relief everyone was fine, weakened and agitated, but ultimately fine. Right as he settled down on the sand on the island, Gohan dropped out of his ascended state and collapsed, not caring that the sand got into his wounds and that he was still bleeding out. Closing his eyes, Gohan finally allowed himself to relax and drift off to sleep, taking deep ragged breaths that evened out. His reverie was shattered though when a voice echoed out through the air.

"What do we have here? Sleeping on the job I see, well you're going to have to do much better than that if you ever hope of defeating me monkey."

Gohan's eyes shot open and he slowly turned his head towards the voice's direction, his stiff neck protesting the entire time. And for the third time, Buu had done the impossible and had escaped the maw of death once more. It seemed that Buu had more lives than even Cell had. At least Cell had had the decency to stay down after the second time.

"What? No scathing come back? No hidden reserves of power? Good! Then it seems that I succeeded in draining you of your power," Buu mockingly declared, doing stationary loop-de-loops as he celebrated.

Gohan couldn't believe his luck, he had pulled out all the stops, had even unlocked a brand new form of Super Saiyan, and yet he still couldn't come out on top. All that training had been for nothing. _Maybe if I had more time, I could take Rou up on his offer and see if he could make me stronger. But I don't have enough energy to move let alone warp! _Gohan coughed and hacked up a wad of congealed blood from the back of his throat.

"Oh look at you, lying there broken and gasping for air, but you don't get to die yet. When your loved ones and the world around you turns to ashes, then and only then, do you have my permission to die. One last thing, remember when I said that I take some of the energy of every planet and star I destroy? Well that last attack wasn't it, this one is. And it will destroy everything!"

Buu once again raised both hands up into the air and instantly summoned the ki to the space above it. Whereas earlier his attack had been around the size of a small moon, this was the size of a standard planet. It's power completely dwarfed the previous attack's by a huge margin, it was almost ten times stronger. Gohan just stared up at the colossal attack, his mouth open in shock. He could see now that Majin Buu had more than just acquired Cooler's memories and skills, he had also acquired his habit of beating his opponents down into the ground and showing that even their best efforts were worth absolutely nothing. But Gohan wouldn't go down fighting, even as the island deteriorated around him, he somehow managed to find the strength to struggle to his feet. Looking around, Gohan saw the hilt of the Z-sword lodged in the sand. Glad that it hadn't flown up by now, Gohan walked over and picked it up. If he was surprised at the utter lack of weight he didn't show it, it was no longer a magical item, but a tool. A tool he would use to whatever effect he could.

With the remnants of his meager reservoir of ki, Gohan lifted up into the air, the sword limp in his hand as gravity took hold. The closer he got to the attack, Gohan was physically repulsed by the sheer malevolence it exuded. Buu's theft and storage of the ki had bastardized and warped it, twisted it so much that it didn't resemble the peaceful thrum of a planet full of life. But even as it repulsed him, it's own insane power pulled him, it's sheer size and strength creating a massive gravitational pull. Ironically Gohan noted that while he was still many miles away from its surface it was almost all he could do to avoid being drawn up, his last stand would be wasted as he would be crushed before he even got close.

"Say goodbye to this planet _monkey_," Buu yelled, his voice amplified by his power, "I have just one last thing to add. Fuck you!"

With a greatly exaggerated movement, Buu rotated his whole body while throwing his arms downwards and somersaulted in midair as the planet of ki descended to the Earth.

In an all out effort to stop the attack Gohan ascended into the first form of Super Saiyan, his training to master the form paying off as the power drain was minimal thus allowing him to attack. Charging all his ki into the sword, Gohan rapidly swung it at the attack, razor thin slices of ki surged out of the sword and struck the balls surface, driving deep cuts into its surface that just refilled. Gohan held nothing back, before against Buu's planet destroyer he had used everything that wasn't keeping him alive as power, now he didn't. Gohan poured everything he had into his barrage and it was killing him. His body started to grow heavy and slow down as his cells withered and died, turning into their basest components, calcium and carbon. Gohan's body had already lost both of it's legs and half of it's intestinal tract to calcification before someone interfered.

Suddenly, appearing out of thin air next to him, was his father and Shin. Turning to look at his father, Gohan gazed in shock even as he continued attacking. Goku smiled at his son and held up his right hand, his right hand thrumming with power.

"I'll take it from here son, you've done your part. Shin, get him to Dende he needs to be healed now!" Goku said as he saw the state his son was in. Never before had he seen anyone so desperate for more energy that they would cannibalize their own body. Shaking his head, Goku cleared his mind of all thoughts about his son and how angry he was, they only made it more difficult to control the power he had harvested from Kaioshinkai. Looking upwards at the now rapidly approaching ball of deadly ki, his face steeled and he transformed into the first form of Super Saiyan. Raising his right hand up to his face, Goku reared back into a standard baseball pitching stance, and threw his arm forward. Upon being released from its confinement, the collected ki exponentially expanded in size until it was slightly bigger than Buu's own attack, but it far more powerful. The gravity being emitted was now so strong that there was nothing Gohan could do to brace himself against it's pull. Luckily Shin had managed to grab onto him in time otherwise Gohan would've been crushed.

Gohan and Buu gazed in shock as they both recognized the attack to be what it truly was, a super powered Genki Dama. For the second time since coming to this planet, Buu felt fear. In this attack was more than enough energy to obliterate him several times over. But fear quickly changed into something far more inappropriate, insane laughter.

Shouting over the cacophony the two attacks made as they surged towards each other, Buu's voice was heard.

"Goku! I'm afraid there was one thing you forgot about me! You're not the only escape artist!" After that he waited for the perfect moment to put his plan into affect. As he waited he brought two fingers up to his forehead and smiled.

Both Gohan and Goku merely assumed that Buu was overconfident in his ability to regenerate and survive almost anything. This lapse in judgment and thought would cost them dearly.

Neither of them would be thinking anything though as the two attacks impacted, the sheer amount of sound produced was enough to shatter katchin by pure force alone. The shockwave itself was far more dangerous and deadly though, none of those on the side of good could properly prepare their defenses before it impacted them. Shin wasn't thinking at all and Goku only had enough time to place his arms in front of him. The shockwave shattered the bones in Goku's crossed forearms and destroyed his eardrums, Shin rode the wave instead of fighting it and thus only sustained major bruising on his front while Gohan easily fared the worst. Half of his body already crumbling and his energy pathetically low even in his transformed state; the shockwave swept away his calcified remains while it utterly destroyed Gohan's eardrums and ribcage. The Z-sword disintegrated immediately and what was left of Gohan's skin was peeled back. Now with only half a body and his heart completely shredded by the bone shards that used to compose his rib cage, Gohan was killed instantly.

Goku could only watch in horror as his son plummeted to the ground. The world faded away as he only had eyes for his firstborn. Nothing mattered, the pain in his forearms didn't matter. The complete lack of hearing in both ears didn't matter. Not even the sight of the Genki Dama absorbing and converting Buu's attack mattered. All that mattered was that his son's life had been snuffed out, and it was all because he hadn't thought of the most basic of things. His son had already turned half of his body into dust when he had arrived and Goku didn't even help him. All he had done was tell Shin to get him out of there and said nothing when all the kai did was stabilize his son and gawk. After that he had gone on the attack immediately and had put no thought to any consequences. Goku felt the power level of his youngest son surge higher than it had ever gone before. Before he could even think of what Goten and his wife must be feeling, all the causes for every grievance that had occurred within the past couple of days appeared before him.

With a mocking grin on his face, Buu took two fingers off of his forehead and smiled sadistically down at Gohan before saying something directed at Goku. Without knowing, or even caring about Goku's lack of hearing, Buu drove his fist up and through Goku's chest and ballooned it up, completely destroying the saiyan's torso. As Goku literally felt the energy keeping him together unraveling and spilling out from his body like blood, he felt Buu grasp him by his hair. Goku's body soon spun on an axis around Buu's shoulder and watched the world around him swirl into an array of confusing shapes and color before he felt Buu release his head and the air against the remnants of his body as he was thrown through the air. Dropping out of Super Saiyan and his vision correcting itself midflight, Goku had just enough time to see Buu waving at him before turning around and facing the last Supreme Kai in the universe before he entered the Genki Dama. As his body was already unraveling into energy, the massive supercharged Genki Dama recognized it for what it was and greedily sucked in Goku's essence as they both soared off into space, together.

* * *

A.N. I'm sure you are all going to be surprised as hell. After all I've made Gohan seem pretty much invincible up till now. Well everyone's luck runs out.

Power Levels:

Gohan(Super Saiyan Four): 137,221,000,000

Majin Buu: 177,530,334,800

Goku(Super Saiyan): 3,737,000,000

Shin: 2,689,000,000

Gohan(Body Cannibalization, rapidly dropping): 8,007,000,000-1,891,082,000

Majin Buu's Planet Star attack: 8,612,890,116,000

Goku's Kaioshinkai Genki Dama(Starting and Planet Star attack absorbtion): 15,338,058,247,000-23,950,948,360,000


	16. Shining Spirit

"Gah!" Gohan rasped out as he collapsed down to his knees. Breathing heavily, Gohan stared down at the smooth floor as he tried to catch his breath. Gohan had just experienced what no mortal before him had ever experienced: consciousness during death. Until now the most experience that mortals could ever have with hyperspace was a tight compression and blur of light, courtesy of the Instant Transmission technique. But by using the Instantaneous Movement technique Gohan had been able to experience hyperspace fully compared to the dipping of the toes that the Instant Transmission provides.

Hyperspace's function is to connect the worlds of the living and the dead. It is a pathway for the soul to reach Otherworld when it's corporeal form perishes. As hyperspace is alien to all forms of life, most of those who die cannot handle the immensity and their minds shut down for the trip, brief though it is. That is why souls only remember the events up to when they died when they arrive at their quadrants Check-In stations and are confused as to where they are. But the Supreme Kais have a much different experience. Through the Instantaneous Movement they are able to control hyperspace to suit their needs, using it in anyway they see fit. Travel or information gathering, it doesn't matter. They are exposed to it in a much more intimate way. This intimacy allows their minds to grasp the transition from life and death, a truly enlightening experience for some. Death has a way of shearing off inhibitions and excuses, it opens up one to regrets and brings closure. Gohan in his short life had already built up quite a que of those regrets.

The first thing he had thought of was his family, each member depending on him to come home. He failed. Now Goten would grow up without a brother and a father now, and his mother would only have her youngest child morph into someone else. Gohan knew what would happen to Goten, Goten would go through exactly the same thing he himself had went through when Broly had killed him. Goten would bury himself in training until he would be strong enough to avenge him, or until the Dragonballs recharged, whichever came first. But with Buu still on the planet Gohan could only hope that the pink demon would miss them and leave. Buu wanted an empire, so he doubted that Buu would go and blow up planets for kicks. That is an incredibly shitty way to expand your borders, even Frieza tried to subjugate them first and used it only as a last resort.

Then there was Videl, the woman that Gohan had practically ignored ever since he had left for Kaioshinkai. Gohan hadn't even visited her when he had brought everyone back, having spent all his time with Goten. Gohan would be lying if he said that he felt no attraction to her, discovering that she fought crime had only increased her allure. Gohan had been tempted within the first couple of weeks of school to demonstrate his superiority, just to see how she would respond. Gohan would've gladly sparred with her, he had seen her interest after that first day in gym. The speed of the thrown ball, his jumping ability, and the ability to take a fastball to the side of the head unflinching; it had made her desire to figure him out only that much stronger and Gohan enjoyed it. She had intrigued him, she was a challenge. Deny it he may, he was still partially saiyan and those instincts were strong. So when a relatively strong female blatantly and openly challenged him he was attracted to her. And when his identity was unmasked as The Great Saiyaman, and she threatened him he fell for her. Even though he was scared that she might go public with his secret, some part of him relished it. He didn't know it and neither did Vegeta, but courtship between saiyans was similar to a game of cat and mouse. One that the female usually initiated. So she started the game and he fell into it, training her was just a bonus. Making her stronger, cultivating her talents. What started out as a crush grew, and by the time Broly happened, he had grown to love her. What Pui-Pui had done had driven him nearly insane and it was only the prospect of the Dragonballs that prevented him from descending into madness. All he wanted to do now was hold her in his arms and ask her out, to date her, to simply be with her. Now he couldn't, he was dead, she was alive. But she was in danger and as long as Majin Buu still drew breath she would always be in danger.

His last regret was not training after Cell. If he had then this whole mess could have been prevented, he would have been able to stop Broly. He could have stopped Babadi from resurrecting Buu. Every single death could have been prevented, and it was his fault. Gohan had achieved a level of power that only a handful had ever witnessed, and it was still not enough. Gohan had been unable to fix his mistake, which now lead to an age of darkness the universe had only ever so briefly tasted before. This time Buu would not destroy, but rule.

Failure hadn't been an option, yet it turned into a reality.

Finally managing to catch his breath, Gohan stood up. Looking around he was able to see the yellow fluffy clouds that his father's friends had told him about so frequently. Gohan was surprised to see that there were no other souls around him, he was alone on the road. What should've been a bustling road was completely empty of afterlife. Extending his senses Gohan could sense a mass of ki over in the Check-In station, but due to the way it was constructed couldn't get an accurate lock of who was in there. Deciding that there was no way he would know without looking, Gohan made his way over. Instead of walking the myriad twists and turns, Gohan simply jumped from where he was to the station's entrance.

Looking inside the giant doorway, the first thing Gohan noticed was a large reddish brown desk. The second, the giant red man who sat at said desk. _He kinda looks like grandpa. Must be the size and horns. _Gohan saw three shapes at the edge of the desk and as he focused in on them, realized that he recognized two of them. It was Piccolo and Vegeta! And both were looking at the same thing that the red giant was watching, an extremely big television.

It was at this point that the unknown figure, who somewhat resembled a catfish in skin tone and whiskers, spoke, "He's here."

At the same time both Piccolo and Vegeta turned around and looked at Gohan. Gohan was pleased to see that the Majin symbol was no longer engraved on both of their heads. Right when Piccolo was about to speak Vegeta surged forward, his cape whipping behind him, and latched onto Gohan's biceps and bodily lifting him up into the air.

"How could you possibly fail?" he shouted, "You have more power than the rest of us and you still couldn't win! You were our last hope! My last hope!" Gohan transformed into Super Saiyan, hoping to ease the pressure that Vegeta was exerting on his arms. But as he did so Vegeta transformed along with him, increasing the pain to almost unbearable levels, and still Vegeta continued to shout. " You were the only thing standing between my son and that monster. Do you have any idea what he plans on doing?" Vegeta's face wilted, eyes filled with more emotion than Gohan had ever seen from the proud prince.

"He's going to be so much more thorough than Frieza ever was, he's going to control them."

Vegeta released Gohan, sinking down to his knees as he did so.

"I never wanted children, I didn't want anyone to share what I had gone through. After Frieza had been killed I thought I was free, but even when that woman said she was pregnant I was scared. I almost killed her right then and there, I would have done anything to free myself. And now after everything... it was futile. The Vegeta line started in servitude and now it ends in servitude."

Gohan stared down at Vegeta in shock, never before would he have realized how Vegeta felt.

Gohan bent down, "Vege-"

"Leave me alone!" The elder saiyan's outburst shocked Gohan, and when Gohan didn't move Vegeta stood up and walked off. When Gohan moved to follow him he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up and over his right shoulder, Gohan saw Piccolo shake his head.

"Give him some space, Vegeta needs to sort this out. Alone," said Piccolo.

"Are you sure Piccolo?" asked Gohan.

Piccolo nodded, "With a man like Vegeta? Yes I'm sure, you goin over there to try and help will only be seen as an insult to his pride. He'll see it as you aren't giving him proper respect, let him take care of his own issues." Piccolo then sadly smiled, "Besides, with our current luck I don't think we will have anyone to worry about for much longer."

In all his years having known Piccolo, Gohan thought that he would never see Piccolo give up. Yet here he stood, facing his first teacher, and the man was giving up.

"How can you say that Piccolo? We haven't lost yet!" Gohan argued.

Piccolo sighed, "Look kid, I'm not going to lie to you. The situation is bad, very bad. King Yemma has opened up several pocket dimensions for the deceased souls to enter. He has aides in each one working and sorting the souls to their destinations. The only other time this kind of management occurred was when Buu was first released. King Kai said that each of the Check-In stations had several pocket dimensions just to cope with the sheer amount of deaths that Buu caused. Everyone is worried that history is going to repeat itself and that the same thing is going to happen again. The only reason you were let in here was because you kept your body. Our only hope is to train and get stronger, strong enough that they can send one of us to Buu and kill him. But until then, we have to prepare for the worst.

"But how can everyone just stand around and do nothing! We should be planning or something," Gohan said. The teen was angry, all the hardwork that everyone had put in had been useless. All that training and in the end they just gave up.

"Use your head Gohan, you are the strongest person alive or dead and he brushed you aside like it was nothing. Kid, I know its hard. Believe me there is nothing I want to do more than to go back there and rip that freak apart. But until we can kill him there is nothing we can do," Piccolo said, letting his hand drop from Gohan's shoulder as he did so. Seeing that his student was still clad in the clothes he had hastily put on when he had been under Daimao's control, Piccolo materialized a carbon copy of Gohan's old training gi. Piccolo's lips stretched into a small smile at the look of surprise on Gohan's face.

"I'm going to go meditate kid, go watch what happens and let me know if anything new comes up, okay," said Piccolo, as he did so he jerked his head over towards King Yemma and the massive television in front of him.

Gohan nodded, "Okay Piccolo, you'll be the first one I tell if I see anything."

Piccolo stepped back and walked over the edge of Yemma's desk where he then proceeded to rise up into the air and settle into a lotus position. Gohan sighed and decided that he had nothing better to do than to see what was going on with Buu.

As Gohan looked over he noticed several things that he hadn't before. The man he now knew as King Yemma did not look happy. His fists were clenched and his muscles tight, he was grinding his teeth together as he watched whatever was on the screen. It was the fight going on with Buu on Earth, the one that Buu was completely dominating. Gohan was surprised to see the remains of his body fall into the ocean, the time he had spent in the Check-In station only equaling a couple of seconds in the living world, but that surprise quickly turned to anger and fear when Buu appeared in front of his father. Gohan could only look on in horror as Buu drove his fist into his father's chest and expanded it, destroying his father's torso.

"Goku!" Both Yemma and the toad man shouted out at the same time, King Yemma's loud baritone voice almost completely drowning out the toad man's nasally voice.

As Gohan turned back to look at the smaller of the two, surprised that he knew his father when the man spoke again.

"How dare he! Using my own technique like that!"

Confused, Gohan turned around in time to see his father smash into the Genki Dama and become engulfed in it. It was then that he connected the pieces, this short man was the mysterious King Kai that his father had told him stories about. Unable to watch anymore, Gohan turned to face King Kai.

"You're King Kai right?" Gohan asked him.

"Yes Gohan, I'm King Kai." The rotund man said as his shoulders slumped, the gravity of the situation weighing him down.

Gohan closed the distance between them and asked, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do from here," King Kai replied.

"But you're the man who trained my father!" Gohan exclaimed. "There must be something we can do."

"The only option we have left is no longer viable. We need all of the Kai's here to authorize it, but they left to see to their homes. With Majin Buu loose it is only a matter of time before he expands out to their quadrants," said King Kai.

Just then King Yemma decided to speak up. With his attention on the television the whole time, he saw something that everyone else had missed, and he let them know.

"I think our little problem is about to take care of itself soon," he said with a grin large enough to drive a bus through.

"What do you mean Yemma?" King Kai asked. Gohan didn't want to change the subject with King Kai, but now he was also curious to hear what Yemma had to say.

"Look at the T.V, turns out Goku isn't done just yet. I wish I had some popcorn, I can't wait to see Goku beat that pink menace into a pulp," King Yemma said, mashing his meaty fist into his palm.

Gohan looked closely at the screen, straining to see the minutest detail. Unable to see anything Gohan turned to King Kai.

"What does he mean? I don't see anything," Gohan asked the rotund Kai.

King Kai answered, "Just watch, if Goku is doing what I think he's doing then this is going to get very interesting."

Gohan harrumphed and turned back to the television. '_Father, what are you doing?'_

* * *

Shin slowly backed away from Majin Buu's advance. The short Kai trembling in utter terror, Shin could feel a cold trail of sweat make its way down his back. The one plan that he hoped would work turned out to be a complete failure as Buu displayed one of his newly acquired abilities.

"How does it feel Shin? How does it feel to see every one of your plans fail?" Buu mocked, his muscular form shivering in obvious delight. "First the saiyan hybrid. You made him powerful and gave him the perfect tool to kill me, but even a god can't foresee everything. I may not have been the one to pull the plug on his short life, but thanks to my actions it happened anyway. And I'm guessing Goku was your trump card?" Buu stretched his arms out wide, basking in his glory. "The most powerful attack in history and you couldn't even hit me with it!"

Buu closed the distance separating them in an instant and swung his left arm into a fierce backhand. But like all of his previous attempts at hitting Shin, it stopped just millimeters away from contact.

"And yet no matter what I do, I can't seem to hit you. A blessing of your fellow Kais no doubt."

Seeing the look of shock on Shin's face Buu laughed.

"What? You didn't think that this was all a coincidence? It took Babadi and I a while but we finally managed to figure out why I can't touch you. Their presence within me means that they can influence me partially, and since you were friends with both of them... well you get the idea." Buu shrugged, "The whole, 'oh he's my friend don't hurt him,' spiel is pretty cliche, but its true in this case."

Buu leaned down to where his face was only inches away from Shin's. As Buu breathed, Shin could smell the faint remnants of the cake that Buu had eaten only hours ago, though it seemed so much longer than that. Smiling, Buu brought his right hand up and pinched the side of Shin's cheek. Shin froze, Buu had just told him he couldn't touch him, but here he was having his cheek pinched. Looking at the hand attached to his face, Shin was horrified to see two human digits sticking out of Buu's hand, a human forefinger and thumb to be precise.

Buu leaned in closer, and whispered directly into Shin's ear, "I'm touching you."

Before Shin could react, a body burst out from Buu's front with his face staying in front as it stretched over the head. Tien's unconscious body was glued to Buu's and every movement that Buu did Tien mirrored. Faster than Shin could see, Buu snapped his right arm forward, Tien's fist driving straight into Shin's stomach with extreme force. A loud crack rent the air as Shin bent over Buu's puppet fist, spital and blood pouring out from his mouth. Buu had struck Shin so hard that the metacarpals in Tien's hand shattered, his arm only escaping damage due to the cushioning effect that Buu's body had. Pulling his arm out from under Shin's frame, Shin could only watch in detached curiosity as the pulpy mess of Tien's hand reformed in a ray of pink light.

With his right arm cocked back, Buu grabbed Shin by the scruff of his neck with Tien's free hand and held him up and out. Oblivious to the Kai's groans, Buu cackled with glee.

"Oh this is going to feel so good!" Buu exclaimed as he held Shin up.

Punching straight forward, Buu smashed Tien's fist into Shin's nose. Then the chin, cheeks, then anywhere he could see. The sounds of both Shin's and Tien's bones snapping emanated outward, but whereas Tien's kept getting fixed, Shin's only got worse. Eventually Shin stopped struggling, Buu's beating sapping the strength out of him. Seeing that his toy wasn't responding Buu frowned. Shaking Shin up and down, Buu tried to get a response from him but all he received were groans.

Reaching forward with Tien's hand, Buu lightly slapped Shin on the cheek. "Hey, wake up I'm not done with you yet."

Getting no response he grabbed the shattered remains of Shin's jaw and tilted it up to meet his eyes. Buu smirked at the defeated look in the Kai's eyes. Which is why he was confused when Shin started chuckling and tried to grin.

"Did I break you?" Buu asked, unsure of what would cause Shin to act this way.

"G-G-Goku." Shin managed to spit out, losing a canine in the process."

Buu quizzically raised an eyebrow up into the air. Keeping his hold on Shin he turned around and looked up into the sky at the receding Genki Dama. It was getting smaller sure but that was only to be expected since it was getting farther away. Buu was about to turn around and continue the beatdown when suddenly he saw what looked like a whirlpool appeared on the Genki Dama's surface. More and more ki was siphoned into the whirlpool and so the Genki Dama shrunk steadily, until it reached the shape and size of one man. A saiyan man.

With a flash of light the figure was gone, and before Buu's brain could decipher what his eyes were seeing, a flash of agony screamed through his body and mind. Dropping Shin, Buu clutched at his head and screamed. Buu was in so much pain that he didn't even realize that it was with his own hands that he touched his head with, and that there was a giant head-shaped hole under his jaw. Buu didn't realize that there was a hand in front of his face, charged with power and glowing blue. Buu didn't realize that the hand's owner had a look of pure rage and anguish. And Buu certainly didn't realize the tears streaking down Goku's blue face.

Screaming, Goku unleashed the blast and it shot straight into Buu's chest and continued forward, carrying the demon with it instead of exploding. None of those watching noticed the slight change in color of the space it traveled through. Buu's body immediately caught fire as without an aura there was no protection from friction. Goku stood still, his arm still outstretched in the direction he had sent Buu flying in. Not even a full second after Buu had been struck by the blast, Goku suddenly turned around and smashed his fist through the inferno surrounding Buu, and into Buu's spine.

The intense momentum of the around the world journey forced Buu's body into folding itself around Goku's fist. Finally meeting resistance, the ball of ki in Buu's chest exploded. Exploding with more energy than ten stars, it was all contained in a clear field of ki large enough to only contain Goku and Buu. If Goku had not erected the shield, the entire solar system would've been wiped out in an instant. Luckily Goku had passed Tien off to Shin before attacking Buu, at least that way he didn't have to worry about his friends' safety.

When the smoke cleared there was no sign of Buu. Confident that there was no way he could survive, Goku straightened up and turned to Shin.

"We should get Tien to Dende, Buu using him like that couldn't have been good for him," he said, the blue light of his body lighting up the night sky around them.

Shin took a moment to first compose himself and then to get an actual look at Goku. Goku's body had definitely undergone some changes since absorbing the essence of the Genki Dama. The giant hole that Buu had punched into his chest was filled to the brim with blue ki, which was what gave off the light. Every part of Goku was clearly defined with no shadows, as if he was illuminated from within. Goku's black hair shifted constantly as if being tousled in a breeze, alternating between his normal static style to the formation it would take as a Super Saiyan. Sparks of lightning flitted around him constantly, all beginning and ending in Goku's chest. Goku's power was also astronomically high, dwarfing the power of both Majin Buu and Gohan easily. Goku was now the most powerful being in the universe, but the only question was: how long would it last?

Suddenly, a pop was heard echo across the open sea. Turning towards the source, both Shin and Goku were surprised to see a heavily breathing Majin Buu glaring hatefully at Goku. With each exhale steam was ejected from the holes in his head and arms. Extending an arm at Goku, Buu jabbed his finger at the saiyan.

"You filthy monkey! You almost killed me!" Buu screamed. "For that you must suffer, I won't stop with just your oldest son. I won't stop until everything you love and hold dear is. In. Ashes!"

With a roar Buu powered up to his full power, as he did so more pops were heard as thousands upon thousands of Majin Buus appeared in the air around them, each powering up as well. Goku had reduced Buu to atoms, but apparently even that was not enough to destroy the pink monstrosity. Goku glanced at Shin and thankfully Shin got the message this time and immediately warped himself and Tien away. Without being able to get a lock on Shin's signature, Goku had no idea where he went. But that was just fine with the saiyan; with nobody around he would be able to really cut loose on Buu.

"You can destroy me. You can destroy the entire universe. But there is one thing you won't be able to destroy. And just like with all the people who are like you, it is something you always underestimate. Good will always rise up, even from ashes. I once told Frieza something." Goku said. "I am the hope of the universe." Goku widened his stance, staring down at Buu. "I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace." Goku clenched his fist and brought it up to his chest. "I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good!" Goku's voice crescendoed, and as the Buus charged, Goku formed a shield of pure energy around his body.

As each Buu struck the barrier they were flattened instantly, their forward momentum crushing them against an immovable object. Thrusting his arms up and out, Goku emitted a wave of carnage and destruction from his body as he screamed, "Nightmare to you!."

The wave extended outwards in all directions for several miles, pushing the sea water below him down into a huge crater that penetrated down into the mantle. As the wave dissipated, the compressed water flash vaporized and turned to steam. Ignoring the now gaping hole in the Earth, Goku rushed towards the nearest clump of Buus. Sticking his arms out straight to the sides, Goku carved straight through the ranks like a hot knife through butter. Every time his arms impacted a Buu, the driving force behind it passed in and through the Buu, destroying it and the countless others behind it.

After traveling for a mile Goku instantly stopped and curled up into the fetal position. Then just as quickly as he had gone into the position, Goku sprung out of it with both arms and legs extended and unleashed another devastating ki wave. Still in the extended position, Goku felt a small hot spot spring into existence on his back. Turning around he noticed that all the remaining Buus were firing Cooler's so called 'Death Beams.' Frowning, Goku held out his right arm with the palm facing upwards. Bringing it back, Goku launched his arm forward at the exact moment a large disk of ki manifested itself above his palm.

"Kienzan!" The attack shot towards the Buus and in the split second of its original existence, the Buus could tell something was different about it. The Kienzan was distorted around the middle and seemed to jump like a water droplet on a calm lake. An instant later the knew why it was like that. Suddenly expanding, the Kienzan was now easily half the size of the planet in diameter and several miles thick. Upon contact the Buus were eviscerated by the rapidly spinning super disk. Those few Buus remaining could only stare in shock as the bulk of their brethren were destroyed in one giant attack. To make matters worse, upon looking back on Goku they could see that he wasn't even breathing hard and had no discernible drop in his were too busy watching Goku that nobody noticed the ripples in the Kienzan's wake.

Turning to the rest, Goku cracked his neck and rotated his shoulders. Seeing the looks of fear on their faces, Goku smirked and flared his aura to life. Expanding outwards, the pale blue aura's luminescence rapidly increased almost to the extent of the blinding Taiyoken. If the Buus had thought Goku's current power was high then this new demonstration blew it out of the water. Buu had never been a coward, but even one as fearless as him had a fight or flight mechanism and it was going crazy. Some of the Buus decided that dying wasn't worth it and tried to leave, rocketing straight up to space. They assumed that if they could enter the safety of outer space that Goku would be unable to touch them. They assumed incorrectly.

Moving faster than any of them could see, Goku appeared high above them in the ozone layer where the vast energy emissions of his aura broke apart the ozone molecules into oxygen allowing him to breathe. Extending his left hand out, he pointed it at one of the closer Buus and fired a small blast at it. As fast as the Buu and blast were moving, the Buu only had enough time to see a light before they collided, the resulting explosion completely consuming the Buu. With his arm still extended, Goku pointed it at the remaining Buus and unleashed a bombardment of death. The Buus scattered, each flying as fast as they could to try and escape the homing missiles. But try as they might it was all in vain. Each ki blast rapidly overtook them and obliterated each and every one of them. Goku ceased fire and waited for the smoke to clear. While he could sense his targets energy, he wanted to see the look on the survivor's face.

Only one Buu remained, the very first one. Every single atom that had survived Goku's initial strike had regenerated into their own body, and Goku had killed them all except one. Majin Buu could only look on in shock and terror when the smoke cleared from the night sky to see Goku looking down on him with his arms crossed, very much looking like an angel of death.

"You're a monster. A monster!" Buu stuttered out, trembling in fear. The shaking only got worse when Goku suddenly appeared in front of him.

"You have no right to call me a monster. The only monster here is you Majin Buu. You have killed countless innocents and reviled in it. Its only when the shoe is on the other foot that the game isn't fun." Goku said.

Buu smiled, an idea popping into his head. He spoke, "You're right, its not. Make sure you tell me how it feels." And with that Buu flipped his antenna forward and shot a jagged pink beam out at Goku.

Goku moved to slap the attack to the side, but upon contact with it a stunning transformation took place. Buu's smile widened further, '_Lets see how the monkey enjoys being toffee._'

Goku's form shifted and he got smaller and smaller. Soon he had been reduced to the size and shape of a piece of toffee. Buu's eyes glinted and he eagerly snatched it and raised it up to his eyes.

"Oh its coffee flavored, my favorite!" He exclaimed. "Well bottoms up." And with that he popped the piece of hard candy up and into his mouth, where he swallowed it whole.

* * *

Power Levels:

Majin Buu: 177,530,334,800

Goku(Genki Dama absorbed): 23,951,023,100,000


	17. Buu Prime

"Ah that sure hit the spot," Buu said as he rubbed his pink stomach. Stretching his back out into an arch, Buu lazily scanned the planet for any more high levels of power. Thanks to the Geti Star memory chip in his brain Buu had been able to keep a copy of all Tien's memories and techniques, including how to sense energy. Detecting no large signatures barr one unknown and one from Tien's past, Buu frowned. It was obvious that thanks to Gohan and his father's interference the large group managed to escape to safety. Combing through Tien's memories he thought of all safe places they could have escaped too. Lookout? Destroyed along with portions of the surrounding forest, it would be worth a look to check it out anyway especially considering the presence of the young guardian Dende. Roshi's island and Gohan's home were completely destroyed, only bits of wood remained at both areas. Capsule Corporation in West City had completely escaped all of the fighting and with Bulma they may go there and try and hide.

"If I were a bunch of weaklings where would I hide?" Buu mused, crossing his arms and cupping his chin with his right hand, he reclined in midair. Leaning back till he was completely horizontal, Buu stared up into the sky directly at the moon. Buu now knew thanks to Tien that it was the moon that allowed Gohan to transform into that strange Super Saiyan form with fur and briefly thought about destroying it.

"I could just destroy the planet and be done with it. No searching for Dende, no Dragonballs, just peace, " Buu said out loud. His body rippled as skin gained faces and looked up with rapture at the main head. It tickled and made Buu giggle with insane mirth. "Cooler searched far and wide for the proper planets to sell, but why sell? I can do so much more."

"This planet is beautiful, a rare gem in a galaxy of rocks. The perfect place to build an empire. If I destroy the moon it will be ruined, the tides laying waste to the coasts. I'll keep it. Neither of the two brats were born with tails anyway and the Dragonballs were used a couple of days ago so there aren't any worries about more giant monkeys. What do you think right knee?" Buu asked, as he did so the face forced itself outwards and became a miniature fully formed head.

"Sounds good to me, but don't you think it could use some remodeling? I think pinks a good color on it," the face replied in a high pitched voice.

"Hmm you're right, pink would be a good color on the moon. Maybe a large M carved onto the surface too, tribute to our family's greatness."

"And why stop there? Make the whole planet pink! The trees, the rivers, the oceans, everything a glorious pink!" Buu's right shoulder yelled out with gusto, strangely in a much deeper gravelly voice. Soon all parts of Buu's body erupted in cheers and cries for right shoulder's plan. Finally Buu grinned and laughed.

"Yes! No longer will this world be known as Earth, but Buu Prime! As the seat of my empire it shall hold the privilege of being remade in our image. This whole world will be mine, once it is totally under my control I'll set the populations to search for Dende and the rest. With the Dragonballs gone I will have absolutely no opposition!" Buu said and the cheers crescendoed and were soon loud enough to be heard as far away as the mainland, along with the laughter of a demon.

In all parts of the globe touched by the lack of sunlight people gasped out in both fear and amazement as the moon suddenly turned bright pink in a bright flash. It was when the very landscape turned pink in a large all encompassing wave that the fear was unanimous. When the buildings themselves changed was when the panicking started. Only one old turtle, struggling in the surf, was witness to the cause of the changes.

* * *

School was out indefinitely until reconstruction could begin. Many parts of Satan City had been damaged in the what was called the "alien invasion" and the massive earthquakes that ravaged the globe just days after it and Orange Star High was low on the list of priorities. Every available capsule house had been donated to the survivors of North City, amazingly while the city itself was completely gone nobody had died except for several gangs and every occupant of the city's prison. Everyone had said it was a miracle nobody was hurt but a few people knew better. One of these few individuals was one young teen named Videl Satan, the girl was currently busy in the reconstruction effort by assisting with heavy lifting. Everyone had been amazed when Videl was able to heft entire steel girders onto her shoulders but quickly assumed it was because she was the daughter of Hercule and left it at that. Nobody questioned why Hercule himself didn't do the same amazing feats of strength, or why he wasn't even near the construction sites. Instead the World Martial Arts Champion of the world was busy in meetings with the planets king After the massive earthquakes the king had called together a meeting of all the most influential people in the world. So far everyone except for the heiress of Capsule Corp. Bulma had shown up and the king couldn't put off the meeting any longer. Rising up from his chair, King Furry addressed the gathered people. Each of them were sitting in an arc before him, the circular conference room table giving off the premise that everyone there was an equal.

"We have three large cities that are heavily damaged and seven have fallen off of our radar. The west and north sides of the globe are in a complete and total blackout. Somehow the earthquakes must have messed with the magnetic field around the planet because recent satellite images are showing that starting in the Turtle Sea a wave of pink," said King Furry.

All the assembled looked at each other in confusion as simultaneous pictures of the worlds electrical network and the satellite images were displayed on the Holoscreen. Only Hercule seemed unperturbed by the photos.

"So the satellites are a little bit funky, it doesn't mean the whole planet is turning pink or something," the champion said. And since fate has a funny way of messing with Hercule, the compound outside turned pink.

Two soldiers entered the room and bowed to King Furry. Seeing the looks on their faces the old dog knew something was wrong, the last time he had had this feeling was when King Piccolo had personally walked into his office with his dead secretary dangling from his hand.

Clearing his throat King Furry motioned for them to stand and said, "You may stand soldiers. What is the issue?"

The two men looked at eachother then at all of the people assembled in the room together. In unison they both gulped.

"Well you see sir, um, everything outside is now pink including the buildings."

That was it? Furry had been actually worried that something serious had happened. In fact the only person in the room who seemed to care about the outside being pink was also the loudest.

"What do you mean the outside is pink, I was just out there and everything was normal. The grass was green and the buildings looked like buildings not giant wads of bubblegum. King Furry with all due respect you should hire some competent guards, my agent knows several good groups who would be happily willi-"

"That will be all Hercule, I'm perfectly content with my current guards," King Furry interrupted. Even before the afroed man had shut his mouth King Furry turned his attention back to the two men who had started quivering when Hercule first started talking. "Dismissed."

Saluting, the soldiers promptly turned around and walked back out the door, shutting it firmly behind back to the assembled group, King Furry was surprised to see that all of them were gone. Looking around the room he saw that they were all huddled around the far wall's window.

"Well I'll be damned, everything really is pink!" One of them exclaimed.

Turning to Hercule, King Furry only raised an eyebrow. A small smile found itself on his face when Hercule looked away, embarrassed.

* * *

"So this is the home of that unknown power level, Satan City. Looks like a dump," said Buu. The demon had a bird's eye view of the entire city and he was not impressed. Much of the city lay in ruins from Pui-Pui's attack and that had happened days ago! Buu made a mental note that when he finally took control of the planet to jumpstart the planets technology. Gunshots filled the air and attracted Buu's attention. Peering closer he saw that a group of people had what seemed to be this planets equivalent of law enforcement pinned under cover. Sensing that the power level was quickly heading towards the scene Buu had an idea, what better way to see what this person could do than with a test. With a snap of his fingers it was done. Buu smiled to himself as he got ready to watch the show.

"Gahh!" Videl's correspondent screamed out through Videl's watch communicator. Hurdling another burning vehicle, Videl brought her arm up to her mouth and pressed the side button.

"Chief are you okay? Don't worry I'll be there soon," Videl yelled into the microphone and ran down a side street. Vaulting straight over the fifteen foot fence like it was nothing, Videl continued on her path. The winds generated from her passing were strong enough to almost blow pedestrians off their feet as all they could see was a black and white blur. While it would certainly be easier to just fly there and less dangerous to drivers, Videl wanted to keep the population as calm as possible. The city's people were now even less trusting of those they thought used "tricks and fancy light shows" than ever due to the incident with Pui-Pui and Gohan. While Videl knew it was through no fault of Gohan's she couldn't help but be a little bit scared of his actions. She had seen the footage upon her revival and was stunned to say the least of what she saw. To see her friend dig through someone's chest like that, it terrified her. No living being should see that and yet it was captured on live television. Unknown to the crime fighter, the pavement and buildings behind her turned into a bright pink color and the color spread slowly catching up to Videl.

Videl thankfully could no longer hear the sounds of gunfire and if anything that spurred her on further. Rounding the corner she saw the police crews in the looted bank. Smiling Videl thought that they were checking up on the hostages and never thought twice about the sacks of money they were carrying. Videl could honestly say that she was completely surprised when the car smashed into her. It caught her completely in the side and carried her with it, the tremendous force behind it carrying them both in the air until they smashed into a business' wall with Videl in between. Videl hit the wall hard enough to become forcibly embedded in it. Sharp pain flared up in her side and Videl fought to stay conscious. Blinking her eyes rapidly, Videl tried to move before she realized that she was stuck. Twisting her stomach, Videl gasped as a searing pain made its presence known by burning her right side. Through the haze of pain she could barely feel the slow trickle of warmth flowing down her side.

'I have to get out of here before I lose too much blood,' she thought. Using her right arm, Videl brought it down to feel around her side. Eyes widening at the large jagged piece of metal inside her, she tried to pull it out but only got an inch out before the end of it hit the car door. Hissing with pain as the vibrations of the impact traveled down the metal and into her side, Videl released it and pressed her hand flat against the car door and pushed. Hearing the metal protest in response to being moved, Videl exerted more force. Unfortunately instead of pushing the car off of her all she managed to do was pierce the side door, her hand going through the metal like paper.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me," Videl growled out. Thrashing her legs and head about, the daughter of Hercule tried to widen the hole she was stuck in without hurting her side. Emboldened as she felt the brick and mortar yield to her efforts, Videl kept it up. She was about to kick sideways at the car when all of a sudden it was torn away from her and the pain she felt before exploded inside. For the first time since joining the police force, Videl screamed in complete and utter agony. The slow trickle from before was now like a flood, blood poured from her side as whatever had removed the car from her side had also removed the only thing that was keeping most of the blood in her body. What Videl didn't know was that the piece of metal had brushed against her celiac trunk, causing a slight tear. Every movement threatened to rip it open wide and cause death in mere seconds. If she did not get medical attention soon, Videl Satan would die, permanently.

In Videl's blurry vision a shadow appeared, blotting out the sun. She heard it exclaim, "Well would you look at that, its the rich bitch herself!"

"Yeah you're right Boss, it is her. Whatcha gonna do to her Boss?" A second voice, questioning, small, subservient, _weak._

The first voice was familiar, but in her current state Videl couldn't think of where she had heard it before. Obviously she had put its owner behind bars at least once and he had a grudge against her, but out of all the criminals in Satan City who didn't?

"Well Shortstuff I can think of a couple of things to do to her, when I'm done with her she'll know the true fury of the Red Shark gang!"

Videl's vision focused immediately and the fog in her mind cleared instantly. The leader of the Red Shark gang, now everything made sense! A man named only Boss, he had been put behind bars a few months ago, back when the Great Saiyaman had first shown up. He must have escaped from prison during the earthquakes. Looking up at the two men, she noticed that each had a large calligraphic M tattoo on their foreheads. Rationalizing that they got the tattoos in prison she ignored it. The next words she heard lit a fire under her, she would do anything to escape to that fate.

"She's got a nice body, the boys would enjoy her. They've been in prison long enough to build up some steam, it would be good for them," Boss said, laughing as he did. It was a laugh full of malice and pure disregard for his fellow man, or girl in this case.

Bracing herself against the crater her body had created, Videl collected herself and got ready. She might only have one chance at this and she would have to make the most out of it. Closing her eyes, Videl evened out her breathing and waited. Like a snake coiled to strike she layed there, feigning unconscious until the moment was right. She focused only on the air entering and leaving her lungs, the world fell away. None of it mattered, the earthquakes didn't matter, her father didn't matter, and nothing as unimportant as the vast amount of blood leaving her system was going to stop her. Muscles rippled with contained energy, just begging to be unleashed. Finally her moment came, hearing the chunks of pavement crunch underneath Boss' boot, she struck. Her left arm, coiled like a spring, straightened out and moving with it was the rest of Videl's body. Right fist packed with ki, she rose up and planted a devastating uppercut directly underneath Boss' impressively massive chin. She felt bone crack and break through the thick fabric and steel in the gloves she always wore, she heard the sharp noise of someones neck snapping back too far, and she saw the man lift up into the air and go soaring faster than any baseball ever thrown by professional athletes. Was it excessive? At this point Videl didn't care, right now it was a life or death situation and if she had to choose his life or hers she would pick hers every single time.

Boss flew through the air like a bullet. The wake left by his passing shattering the remaining windows in the nearby buildings. Videl had hit the man harder than anything she had ever hit before, not even her father's punching bags had felt her wrath like this. Feeling more than hearing the small rip inside her abdomen, she could only hope it was worth it.

Videl's knees gave out underneath her, the blood loss finally taking its toll on the stalwart crime fighter. Shortstuff could only gawk in amazement and fear as his boss Boss went flying away. Turning back to the now prone woman responsible for the trip his quivering lip was replaced with a sneer. Now this was something he was used to, people lying down unable to defend themselves while he took what he wanted. He was in control, and the petty criminal always enjoyed being in control especially when it was such an attractive and popular woman.

All Videl could do was glare at him as he leaned down and leered, his eyes taking in her blood soaked figure. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered where the rest of police force was and when they would show up to put this low life in his place. Not for the first time she wished that Gohan was there, he would know what to do. Gohan always found a way to make anything better, whether it was a tough math test or an insane monster he always found a way around it. When she heard the now familiar sound of boots landing on pavement her heart rose up in her throat, Gohan was finally here!

"Man that bitch can throw a punch! I think I'll take a turn first just to see what she's made out of." It wasn't Gohan's warm tenor that she had prayed to hear. No it was the rough guttural voice that belonged only to one person, and it belonged to the person she had just sent flying on a one way trip to the stratosphere.

With the rest of her remaining strength, Videl struggled to raise her head to look at Boss, the large M on his forehead glinting with a dark light ominously. His chin looked like someone had hit it with a sledgehammer, but his neck was completely fine. Videl could only watch in horror as the flesh over his large chin rippled in waves and bulged out, new bone filling in the spaces her fist had vacated. Right before her very eyes she watched the man heal, the only time she had seen anything like it before was when she was at the Lookout and Dende healed Trunks and herself, but this was not divine no, it could only be described as something demonic.

Her body giving out, her vision was brought back down to the pavement. Never noticing that it was now pink Videl stared blankly at it. The edge of her vision started to blacken and her field of vision diminished. She shivered, she was so cold, why was it so cold? It was the middle of summer it shouldn't be cold. Now even the clouds started to look different, the white puffy clouds now looked a yellowish orange, or was it an orangish yellow? Another pair of boots dropped down from the sky and entered her vision, but Videl was so far gone that she never noticed them. Closing her eyes, a long quiet breath of air escaped her mouth and rattled her chest. The daughter of Satan City, Videl Satan, had officially passed from this world for the second, and final time.

* * *

Looking down at the still warm corpse of Videl Satan, Majin Buu stood next to his new minions. Crossing his arms across his chest Buu couldn't help but huff. He had seriously been hoping to see some potential out of this mysterious fighter and instead she was killed with ease. And not even in combat but killed by a damn car! He didn't care that she had been caught off guard or that she had managed to almost kill one of his men. All Buu cared about was that he had just lost his new toy.

Exhaling out his nose, Buu turned towards Boss and Shortstuff, he smiled when they immediately went down on one knee. Oh yes this ruling thing definitely suited him. With a wave of his hand he bid them to rise.

Pointing down at the dead body Buu asked, "Who was she?"

Boss cleared his throat and spoke nervously for the first time in his career as a mob boss, "Lord she was the daughter of the World Savior Hercule. She is, was, the third most recognizable person in the world." Boss corrected himself, it was weird referring to the bitch as a dead person. Weird, but not enjoyable.

"Thank you Boss, when you get home you will find an extra story on your house." Boss bowed and turned around, it was time he got his turn inside the bank. His paycheck was past due and he didn't want the cops to take all of the dough.

Shortstuff stood there, unlike Boss he had not been dismissed and so he stayed. The fat man waited as his lord and master studied him.

"You're fat." Buu said. Flicking his antenna towards Shortstuff, he molded the man's image into something more suitable for combat. Fat disappeared to be replaced by muscle, knowledge inserted itself into his mind on how to fight and use ki. Things that only Boss had known previously was now known to him, he now knew how to fly and to control his ki. Shortstuff made not a sound even though the process was anything but painless. It felt like thousands of ants were crawling under his skin and fire was flowing through his veins. An intense pressure built up in his chest and in the part of his mind that was still his own Shortstuff wondered if he wouldn't burst apart like a balloon. Thankfully it was over and Shortstuff was free to examine his new body. A quick once over and Shortstuff was quite pleased with what he saw, his frame now packed with so much muscle he looked like he could bench press a building.

"I'm bored, instead of going to every city and converting them I'll just do the planet all in one go. Quick and easy just the way I like it. Then we can get started on fixing up this backwards planet. Come Shortstuff I have a planet to rule."

Rising up into the air, Buu and Shortstuff climbed higher and higher into the sky past the clouds. Soon they were high enough that there would be no way for Shortstuff to breathe and he was forced to stop. Frowning at the inconvenience, Buu snapped his fingers and a slim space suit wrapped itself around Shortstuff's frame. With that small matter out of the way the duo continued to climb until the entire world was laid out before them. Shortstuff stared in wonder, he had always wanted to go into space since he was a small child and now he was here, and the best part was that he didn't even use a spaceship! Looking at the world, he watched mesmerized as it spun like a pink jewel in the ocean.

Cracking his neck from side to side, Buu looked down at the world with pride. This was his, he made the planet into the way it was now. It was now time for the finishing touches, at most right now he only had about ten people under his control, but every ruler knows that you need more than ten people for anyone to take you seriously. Soon ten people would become ten planets, then ten galaxies.

Placing both of his hands in front on him, Buu cupped them in such a way that in his vision it looked like he was holding the world in his hands. Staring down in between his hands, he watched as the space inbetween rippled like waves on water. The dark energy matrix he had created was primed and now all it required was the order. His eyes darted over to Shortstuff, he was still gazing at the planet in rapture. Perfect.

Twitching his eyes back to the matrix, Buu telekinetically pulled Shortstuff over to him. Suddenly finding himself seized in the unbreakable grip of his master's telekinetics, Shortstuff shrieked in fear as he was drawn towards Buu and the matrix. The closer he got, the louder and higher his screams got until finally Buu had had enough and mentally severed Shortstuff's larynx. Trying to recoil in pain, Shortstuff felt the muscles in his neck bunch up as he still tried to scream.

"Don't take it personally Shortstuff, you always to have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. You're the egg, the worlds population is the omelet." Buu said, and jerked his head back. Like a ripened tomato, Shortstuff's body exploded outward and was drawn into the matrix. In a mix of blood and gore, with a small amount of black smudge from his bad smoking habit, Shortstuff's body was drawn into the proverbial mixing pot of the matrix. Buu hummed to himself as the gore was pulled in, swirling and swirling before finally spreading out into a spherical shape. It overlapped perfectly with the view of Buu Prime.

"A little DNA and the rest of the world will follow. One must be sacrificed so the rest can live." Buu said, it might have been an apology to Shortstuff or it might have been preemptive gloating, but the reality stayed the same. The remnants of Shortstuff pulsed and then finally dispersed into a fine cloud, each particle rotating infinitely in the vast vacuum of space. Buu spent a moment gazing at the cloud happily. Releasing his hands from their previous position, Buu lifted up his right hand and passed it through the cloud.

"It is so beautiful, my very own creation." Buu said, enraptured. Finally with what seemed almost like a sad smile, Buu motioned his hand forward towards the planet and the cloud drifted forward. It hung there motionless for a split second before finally splitting apart and zooming in towards every detectable ki signature on the planet. Each particle of Shortstuff was filled with the malevolent Majin power of Buu's magic. Flying through space and entering the atmosphere, each individual piece homed in on one person. Buu watched as bright flashed lit up the pink surface of Buu Prime. In three minutes and twenty six seconds every particle had found its target and the entire planet was now under Buu's control.

* * *

Power Levels:

Videl: 304.3

Note: Some of you may notice the difference in Videl's power level from chapter 7, unfortunately that power level was a typo. I figure that with Videl's awakening to ki her progress was much faster than the rest of the humans in the beginning of Dragonball, it still however pales in comparison to the gains the humans made when getting ready for the saiyan's invasion. Training by yourself isn't as efficient as being trained by Mr. Popo and Kami.


End file.
